The Cleveland Cavaliers are on a four-game winning streak, and Donovan Mitchell and James Harden combined for 66 points in their latest win, but Kenny Atkinson made it a point to call out team-wide defensive shortcomings after the Cavs' 136-131 victory over the Orlando Magic. It's the fourth occurrence in the last two weeks in which the Wine and Gold allowed at least 128 points to an opponent.
“I just told the team in the locker room, if we're gonna play defense like this, we're gonna have a short playoff stint,” Atkinson said postgame. “Right now, we have a mentality that we're just going to outscore people. We all know when it comes, playoff time, it's not going to be that easy offensively. You're not always gonna shoot like we're scoring now. So if we're giving up 132 points, 128, I don't know, it seems like every game, we're not going anywhere.”
“I mean, we all know,” Evan Mobley added. “The good thing is we have games to get better,” Mobley added. “And we all know what we're capable of at the end of the day, so that's the main thing right there. I think everybody took it pretty positively and knows that we've got to do better at that. Guys are gonna keep stepping up and be better defensively.
Max Strus agreed with Atkinson on the matter because “it's the truth,” noting that, despite finding an offensive flow, 131 is “way too many points” and that defensive improvements are necessary “everywhere.”
“That's not something you want to live by,” Strus said. “We've got to figure it out defensively. That's gotta be our M.O. We've got to find a way to make that 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 the aggressors, and we need to come out with the physicality and make a statement on that end.”
“I think we've just got to keep our energy high and try to disrupt the ball a little more,” Evan Mobley added. “I feel like guys are getting to their spots a little too easy, but we definitely have spurts where we do that. We've just got to be able to maintain that and slow people down a little bit 'cause sometimes it's a lot of 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 they want, and it's too easy for them.”
Atkinson was disappointed by Cleveland's competitive level and IQ level, making it clear that the communication has also been subpar.
“We've got to decide, 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 outscore people.”
“He's not wrong,” Mitchell added. “You love when a coach is honest with you. We all have our goals and sights on big things, as we all know, and it's on us to go out there and fix it. The intensity is there, but now it's the mental, thinking about different things; that's the gameplan, execution. That's the little things; [offensive] boards are huge as well. It's tough to guard for 24 [seconds] and then have to guard for another 14. Just giving teams second chances.
The Cavs are highly intentional about fixing the issue that has plagued them for almost a month.
“I think we've already been talking about that for a minute,” Mobley said. “So we're all on the same page, we're all talking about it, we're all working at it, and we're gonna 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, then I would think it's a little more scary.”
“Very [confident],” Mitchell added. “I'm not trying to say it in that way where it's like we'll just be there. We have to execute it.”
Atkinson doesn't like using Jarrett Allen's absence as a crutch, nor do his teammates. He has missed the last nine games with right knee tendinitis, and though he's close to a return, the Cavs have to find ways to combat it when the veteran center is not on the floor.
“I feel like we're used to two bigs on the floor a lot of the time in defensive lineups, where we have two people that can rotate and get there, and right now, we only have one, so it's a little bit different with that aspect,” Mobley said. “Other than that, we can't lean on that. He's not playing right now, so next guy's got to step up and that's on me to protect the rim better and everyone else to be in their spots and not let them get to the rim as easy.”
“JA's not playing, sure. Our defense is predicated around that, sure. But we can be better, and we will,” Mitchell added. “There's 10 games [left]. We've got to get there now. I have no doubt that we will, and it's on us 17 guys in the locker room.”
Atkinson is a big believer 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 is,” Atkinson said. “And our leaders [have] got to take ownership of getting that locker room to take ownership of defending better. It really starts there.
“So we've got another shot tomorrow night. It's a really good offensive team [in the Miami Heat]. We've got to turn it, we've gotta switch it. We've gotta switch our mentality right now, way too tilted towards the offensive end.”
