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A day later, Kenny Atkinson remained firmly in James Harden’s corner.
No second-guessing his decision to stick with the veteran despite his issues defending Jalen Brunson in the Knicks’ wild comeback from 22 points down to win the opener of the Eastern Conference finals.
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“One thing about James: I’ll just defend him,” the Cavaliers coach said Wednesday. “He’s a good isolation defender, always has been. He’s super smart. I said it [Tuesday] night, he has great hands.”
Kenny Atkinson reacts during the second quarter of the Cavaliers’ Game 1 overtime loss to the Knicks at the Garden. Brad Penner-Imagn Images
In fact, Atkinson was far more disappointed with Cleveland’s team defense — or lack thereof. Time and again, the Knicks targeted Harden in the pick-and-roll to get him to switch on to Brunson, and the superstar guard torched the Cavaliers for 17 of his 38 points in the final 12:39 of regulation and overtime.
In the fourth quarter, the Knicks were able to get Harden to switch on to Brunson for nine isolations that averaged 1.9 points per action, according to the “All NBA Podcast.” In a stretch when Brunson scored 11 straight Knicks points to cap an 18-1 burst, Harden was the primary defender.
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“[Brunson] hit two or three really tough shots on him, but the baseline drive [that tied the game with 19.3 seconds remaining in regulation] where our low guy didn’t come over and get a contest, that is team defense. At this level, it’s team defense,” Atkinson said. “Sure, everybody’s putting it on James. A lot of it’s on the team, our team defense. … Sure, some of it was him, there were a couple of blow-byes. But again, I’d argue it was the team defense, too.”
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On a few occasions, the Cavaliers blitzed Brunson to get the ball out of his hands, but it resulted…
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Publish date : 2026-05-21 02:19:00
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