For now, Kenny Atkinson is not in the ejection seat
Anything can happen very quickly in the NBA, especially when you’ve just been named coach of the year. So George Karl, Dwayne Casey, Monty Williams and even Mike Brown have learned this the hard way in the past, but maybe Kenny Atkinson, decorated in 2025will do the same in the coming weeks.
In the last few days we have actually realized that the coach is from Cavaliers was under pressuredue to the team’s slow start to the season, barely in balance and not even in the Top 6 of their conference. After largely dominating the debates in the East last season, with an almost identical lineup.
Besides that The Athletic assures that Kenny Atkinson is “not on the hot seat” at the moment, despite the obvious displeasure of Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, who is tired of seeing the public booing his players.
Give time to the coach and the group
For now, the decision makers Clevelandas well as Kobe Altman, the GM, want to give time to their coach, who also feels supported.
« From their side, the attitude is more like, ‘How can we help?’ » he pointed out in this regard. ” These are the conversations we have together. The working atmosphere is good and we are all going in the same direction. It’s not like everyone tells the other what to do, there’s nothing like that. It’s more about: ‘How can we help each other?’. I know it sounds a bit cliché, but these are the conversations we’ve had over the last few days. »
This group will also have time, too rarely complete since the start of the season, between injuries to Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Max Struss, Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill. In this sense, Athletic adds that the Cavaliers have already rejected two offers for the transfer of players in their rotation.
« The healthier we are, the better we will be » he even assured Kenny Atkinson on Monday, before his men snapped a three-game losing streak against the Hornets. ” I believe in this team. (…) All we have to do is continue to hold out and win some victories in the next matches. But I think we’re moving in the right direction, especially with some guys coming back from injury. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | That | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Ft | Pts |
| Donovan Mitchell | 28 | 34:02 | 50.0 | 38.8 | 84.8 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.5 | 30.6 |
| Evan Mobley | 25 | 34:10 | 49.6 | 35.2 | 64.0 | 2.6 | 6.7 | 9.3 | 4.1 | 2.2 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.4 | 19.1 |
| Darius Garland | 15 | 30:08 | 39.7 | 35.3 | 88.7 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 6.9 | 2.9 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 17.1 |
| Second Hunter | 27 | 28:13 | 43.4 | 31.1 | 85.3 | 0.7 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 2.8 | 15.3 |
| Jarrett Allen | 20 | 25:54 | 59.3 | 20.0 | 77.2 | 2.2 | 5.3 | 7.5 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 13.9 |
| Sam Merrill | 14 | 25:56 | 46.7 | 44.2 | 94.4 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 13.8 |
| Jailon Tison | 26 | 27:48 | 52.4 | 45.0 | 78.4 | 1.9 | 3.5 | 5.4 | 2.0 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 3.3 | 13.0 |
| Nae’quan Tomlin | 22 | 15:30 | 47.9 | 23.3 | 68.8 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 6.6 |
| Dean Wade | 29 | 23:00 | 38.6 | 31.5 | 72.4 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 1.7 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 5.8 |
| Lonzo Ball | 23 | 23:52 | 30.5 | 26.3 | 66.7 | 1.0 | 3.4 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 5.6 |
| Craig Porter Jr. | 27 | 16:09 | 53.3 | 43.2 | 58.8 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 5.2 |
| Tyrese Proctor | 23 | 11:55 | 33.3 | 29.3 | 82.6 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 5.2 |
| Thomas Bryant | 24 | 9:55 | 51.2 | 31.6 | 82.6 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 4.8 |
| Larry Nance Jr | 16 | 15:00 | 35.4 | 30.3 | 33.3 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 2.4 | 3.6 |
| Chris Livingston | 3 | 5:40 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 3.0 |
| Luke Travers | 12 | 8:35 | 25.0 | 6.3 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 2.3 |
2025-12-24 11:33:00
