Donovan Mitchell, Kenny Atkinson won’t tolerate one big Cavs problem

Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has been tough since the start of training camp with his blunt message about the playoff record, and now, Donovan Mitchell echoes of that difficult love at the beginning of November. After a 132-121 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, the Wine and Gold All-Star point guard addressed mental lapses that could prove costly — and will be if they keep working.

“It can’t happen,” Mitchell said Wednesday after the game, referring to Cleveland, which has given up leads multiple times this season. His message was met with the same upset tone used after the 131-124 victory in Brooklyn. That night, the Cavs blew them out, and they did the same to the Sixers nearly two weeks later. Somehow each of those opponents came back in the fourth quarter. The Nets cut it to a one-point deficit, and Philly even fought back twice in one night.

With Cleveland off to a roaring start The return of Dario GarlandThe Sixers trailed by 14 points in the opening period and went into halftime down by three, then tied the game two minutes into the third quarter.

“I tore them up at halftime because I think in the second quarter we just completely lost our mental focus,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Our activity was down, defensive activity. I mean, I tore them up. I tore them up as much as you can tear anyone in the NBA. In the first quarter, we were all over the place. In the second quarter, we were relaxed, and this is one of our areas of improvement: we worked better, played better with the lead.”

“Everything he says is true,” added Jarrett Allen, who returned from a two-game absence with a broken left ring finger. “It’s hard to argue with him about what he sees. We know it’s deserved, and we know we can do better out there. He just tells us how it is. Listen to what he says, not how he says it. Let’s just say it… We let them come back and they tied the game, and I feel like we got the lead back to extend.”

Atkinson was equally disappointed with how his team finished. The Cavs had 25 points the lead breaks down to nine with a minute left in the game.

“It might seem like, ‘Oh, well that’s kind of normal,’ but you can feel us kind of lose energy and focus,” Atkinson said. “I think we had seven turnovers in the fourth quarter and you really want to put your foot down, put your foot on the pedal and keep it down.

The Cavs need to play 48 minutes to be a real contender

Mitchell understands that the Cavs will have to solve this nagging problem themselves.

“(Allowing) 34 points in the fourth, 40 in the second. … The second quarter was down, so it’s tough in those scenarios, right? But still, if we want to be that team, it can’t happen. And we’re going to watch our film, we’re going to hold ourselves accountable. And that’s the biggest thing I take away is staying in early games and having to stay consistent. and, honestly, sitting in those situations.

“We shouldn’t be playing because we should have taken care of business right then and there.”

The same feeling was shared throughout the locker room. Sam Merrill said Cleveland has to adjust to Philly’s speed and drive. While Atkinson’s tirade was initially effective, he had the same feeling as Mitchell about the final frame. It wasn’t perfect, and the Cavs got the job done, but closing strong is the most important thing.

“You’ve just got to find a way. You’ve got a team on the second night of back-to-back games,” said Merrill, who returned from a three-game layoff with a hip injury. “If you have an opportunity to make it 25 or 30 and end the game, generally … I mean, these guys are playing a lot of minutes on the other team, so maybe they just kept going. But you want to take those opportunities to get the rest when you need them.”

“I feel like there are times when we just need to lock in so we can understand when to put our foot down and not let them get back into the game,” Allen added.

Just eight games into the campaign, we’ve seen Cleveland’s concentration wane in blowout situations. It won’t cut it if the Cavs are trying to be the team no one wants to face on any given night.

“It’s a mental thing, for Kenny’s point, and it’s all five guys on the floor.” Mitchell said: “Everybody’s on the bench. It’s a collective. Zoe (Ball) said that too, but we’ve got to find a way as a group. It can’t just be two or three people or four, or one or none. Like, everybody comes together.”