The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a four-game winning streak, and Donovan Mitchell and James Harden each scored 66 points in their latest win, but Kenny Atkinson made a point of pointing out team-wide defensive shortcomings after the Cavs’ 136-131 win over the Orlando Magic. This is the fourth instance in the last two weeks in which the Wine and Gold gave up at least 128 points to an opponent.
Atkinson said after the game, “I just told the team in the locker room, if we play defense like this, we’re going to have a short playoff stint.” “Right now, our mentality is we’re just going to outwork people. We all know when it comes playoff time, offensively it’s not going to be that easy. You’re not always going to shoot like we’re scoring right now. So if we’re giving up 132 points, 128, I don’t know, it feels like every game, we’re going nowhere.”
“I mean, we all know,” Evan Mobley said. “The good thing is we have games to get better,” Mobley said. “And we all know what we’re capable of doing at the end of the day, so that’s the main thing. I think everyone has taken it pretty positively and knows we’ve got to get better at it. Guys have to keep stepping up and getting better defensively.”
Max Strus agreed with Atkinson on the matter because “it’s true,” noting that despite finding offensive flow, 131 is “too many points” and that defensive improvements are needed “all over.”
“This is not something you want to live with,” Strus said. “We’ve got to figure it out defensively. That’s got to be our MO. We’ve got to find a way to create our identity, and that can help us win a lot of games. Everybody can make the excuse that we don’t have a rim protector in Jarrett Allen, but it starts on the ball. It starts with our communication, physicality. We just let them be aggressive, and we need to come out with physicality and make a statement on that end.”
“I think we just have to keep our energy higher and try to disrupt the ball a little bit more,” Evan Mobley said. “I think guys are getting to their spots easier, but we definitely have the pace where we do that. We just have to be able to keep it up and slow guys down a little bit because sometimes it’s too much scoring back-and-forth. Just try to be as disruptive as possible. I think that’s the key right now. On the ball, off the ball, being physical, trying to dictate the game a little bit. I feel like sometimes we let them dictate what we do.” They want to, and it’s very easy for them.”
Atkinson was disappointed with Cleveland’s competitive level and IQ level, making it clear that communication had also been poor.
“We’ve got to make a decision, Atkinson said. We’ve got two weeks to figure it out, and that’s the challenge for this group. But right now, we just think we can beat people.”
“He’s not wrong,” Mitchell said. “You love when a coach is honest with you. As we all know, we all have goals and targets on bigger things, and it’s on us to go out there and get it right. The intensity is there, but now it’s mental, thinking about different things; that’s the gameplan, that’s the execution. It’s the little things; [offensive] The boards are also huge. It’s hard to protect 24 [seconds] And then the other 14 have to be protected. Just the teams will have to be given a second chance.
The Cavs have been extremely intentional about fixing a problem that has plagued them for nearly a month.
“I think we’ve been talking about it for a minute already,” Mobley said. “So we’re all on the same page, we’re all talking about it, we’re all working on it, and we’re going to get better at it. We’ve seen it before, we’ve done it before. We’re not playing the best right now, but we have the right mindset behind it. That’s the main thing. If we weren’t, I think it’s a little more scary.”
“Very [confident],” Mitchell said. “I’m not trying to put it in a way where it sounds like we’re just going to stay there. We have to implement it.”
Atkinson doesn’t like using Jarrett Allen’s absence as a crutch, and neither do his teammates. He has missed the last nine games with right knee tendinitis and although he is close to returning, the Cavs will have to find ways to deal with the veteran center not being on the floor.
“I think a lot of times in the defensive lineup we’re used to having two big guys on the field, where we have two guys that can rotate and get there, and right now, we only have one, so it’s a little different with that aspect,” Mobley said. “Also, we can’t depend on him. He’s not playing right now, so the next guy has to step up and it’s on me to protect the rim better and everyone else to stay in their spots and not let them get to the rim that easily.”
Mitchell said, “Obviously JA isn’t playing. Our defense is definitely based around that. But we can get better, and we will.” “There are 10 sports [left]. We have to reach there now. I have no doubt that we will do that, and it’s up to the 17 of us in the locker room.”
Atkinson has a huge belief in what the Cavs have and he’s seen it firsthand, which is why he’s being so hard on them.
“We’re very capable. I think that’s where the frustration lies,” Atkinson said. “And our leaders [have] Gotta take ownership of getting that locker room to a better defense. It really starts there.
“So we’ll get another chance tomorrow night. This is a really good offensive team [in the Miami Heat]. We have to turn it on, we have to change it. “We just have to change our mentality, which is too much inclined towards the offensive end.”
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