Kenny Atkinson Rips Cavaliers for Poor Defensive Effort

From the outside looking in, the vibes around the Cleveland Cavaliers may seem pretty good right now. 

Tuesday's win over the Orlando Magic pushed their win streak to four straight games, all while the offense averages 122.5 points over the last eight games. Things aren't what they seem in the eyes of Kenny Atkinson, though. 

Following the 136-131 victory, Atkinson used the majority of his seven-plus-minute postgame press conference to shred his team for a lack of effort on defense – another trend that has seemingly defined the Cavs during this short streak. 

"I just told the team in the locker room, if we're going to play defense like this, we're going to have a short playoff stint," asserted Aktkinson. "Right now we have a mentality that we're just going to outscore people. And we all know when it comes playoff time, it's not going to be that easy offensively. You're not always going to shoot like we're scoring now. So if we're giving up 132 points, 128, I don't know, seems like every game, we're not going anywhere."

It was as strong a commentary as Atkinson has ever delivered in a postgame setting. On what would should have been a celebratory night that saw Cleveland shoot a whopping 62% from the floor, while its two biggest stars, Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, combined for 66 points, instead, it felt like a loss. 

"Everything," Atkinson said of what specifically isn't working on the defensive end of the floor. "So it's the compete level. And then along with the compete level, there's a— an IQ level, an understanding of the game. So if you're slipping in both areas, you give up 132 points.

"And the last part of that is communication, right? So if your compete level's not there defensively, you know, you're missing closeouts or, not understanding personnel. That's the IQ part."

It's pretty clear that Atkinson entered that postgame presser ready to send a message. The first question was about the Mitchell, Harden duo going bonkers offensively. Atkinson found a way to swerve his answer into roasting the defense, and his two stars were seemed to be the main targets of his pointed rant. 

With just 10 games to go, it was a strategic move by the Cavs head man. 

"We got to decide," he added. "We got 2 weeks to figure it out. And that's a challenge for this group. But right now we just think we can outscore people." 

There's some context to this, of course. Cleveland hasn't had its defensive engine, Jarrett Allen in nine straight games now, as he battles knee tendinitis. As important as Allen is, though, Atkinson believes his absence has become an excuse that he's no longer accepting. 

"He's not wrong," Mitchell said of Atkinson's pointed postgame comments. "We love when a coach is honest with you. We all have our goals and sights on big things, as you all know, it's on us to go out there and fix it."

It appears Allen is due back soon. Atkinson revealed pregame that he's ramping things up to return in the next couple of games. It's hard to imagine he fixes everything on that end of the floor, though. 

The Cavs defensive effort has been an ongoing issue throughout the season, with or without Allen. Correcting it now, would mean correcting something that has seemingly become part of who they are. 

Mitchell seems to think they can pull that off. 

"I'm not trying to say it in that way where it's like 'we'll just be there,'" said Mitchell. "We have to execute it, and yeah JA's not playing. Defense is predicated on that, sure. But we can be better, and we will ... It's on us. All 17 guys in that locker room." 

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