While rebounding has not been the Cleveland Cavaliers' strong suit to start the season, Sunday's win over the Atlanta Hawks should serve as a blueprint for how they need to control the glass. Although the wine and gold technically lost the battle of the boards, it's the way the players secured them that stood out.
There were six Cavaliers who pulled down at least four rebounds. It's a possession game in the fast-paced NBA nowadays, and even if you're not having your best day, the more chances you give yourself to score, the better off you'll be. Case in point: Cleveland snapping its two-game slide against the Hawks.
“You can argue that was the difference maker,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said following the 117-109 victory. “Our offense wasn't great, we didn't shoot it great, and we just attacked the offensive boards, especially in the second half. Lonzo [Ball]. CP [Craig Porter Jr.] had a couple.
“We knew that was one of their weaknesses. I think they’re 29th in defensive rebounding coming into the game, so we really emphasized that in our scout, our pregame. Kept telling them during the game, keep going to the boards on these guys.”
Cleveland outrebounded the Hawks 25-16 in the second half, coming up with huge ones in the fourth quarter, many of them coming on the offensive end.
While much of it had to do with Porter and Ball, seemingly everybody played a part in tracking them down. Donovan Mitchell even joked that he's fighting for them, but his teammates were determined to get the rock. It's a help to everybody — especially Evan Mobley, Larry Nance Jr., and Thomas Bryant, with Jarrett Allen on the sidelines with a broken left ring finger.
“Craig Porter's out here jumping over people. Zo, same thing,” Mitchell said after his 37-point night. “I can focus on boxing Kristaps Porzingis out, and I know our guards got our back, right? Dean Wade coming in there. It's a group effort, and that's what it's going to take.”
“Super important,” Ball added. “We've been emphasizing that. Obviously, we haven't been on the glass like we have wanted to start the year off, but it should turn around here soon. We're sending a lot of people to the glass, so just try to come up with the ball.”
Coming into Sunday, the Cavs were averaging the fifth-fewest rebounds per game in the league (40.7) and ranked in the bottom half in rebounding percentage. They carried that reputation toward the end of last year until Cleveland flipped that narrative on its head by becoming one of the top rebounding squads in the postseason.
“We did a good job of it in the playoffs last year, and that's what I said after Boston,” Mitchell shared. “It's just like a mental thing, you know? When I talk about the playoffs, it's not physical. It’s none of that. It's just a mental, a want-to on every single night, every single possession. There's a few that were out there, we kind of let them have where it's like a mental [thing] where we want to go get it.
“And I think that's what you're starting to see, as a group, we're doing everything we can as a group. I think Dre had seven and Ev had eight. Larry had four. Zo and Dean had six. Like, that's what you want. D***, Craig had seven. That's what you want as a group, to come in there and fight for each other.”
Cleveland has only won the glass game once this year, against the Milwaukee Bucks in its home opener.
If the offense is going to be a work in progress while everybody gets on the same page, then the team will have to make sure it's getting as many bites at the apple as possible. That's magnified with Allen out.
The box score indicates that the Hawks bludgeoned the Cavs in the paint, 60-34, but the home team took 20 more shot attempts and had a much different shot profile; seeing 57 three-point tries is obviously not ideal, and Atkinson knows that, but the math worked with 20 triples made. It also helps that Cleveland forced 23 turnovers, which resulted in 33 points.
Finishing defensive possessions is paramount to keep opposing teams at bay, but Atkinson is preaching hard about second-chance opportunities: “If we're going to miss, we might as well go and get it on the boards, and that's kind of what we did… It's not just our bigs; we've got guards crashing, and it's kind of what we do. I'm really happy to see that our offensive rebounding is starting to take off.
“I think we kind of struggled early with our energy to the boards, but we're doing a better job now.”
