Kenny Atkinson attempted to explain the rationale for his curious decision-making in the fourth quarter as his Cavaliers watched a 22-point lead disappear.
The Cavaliers coach was ripped by fans and analysts on Tuesday night after the Knicks completed a 115-104 comeback win to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals. Questions mounted over his decision to call just one timeout while the Knicks went on a 30-8 run in the final quarter, and over why he left James Harden in the game as he got torched by New York.
The questionable decision to take one timeout amid a catastrophic collapse was a result of Atkinson saying he likes to “hold my timeouts.”
“I didn’t want to have one timeout at the end of the game. One- or two-point game, I try to hold them,” he bizarrely explained.
But that wasn’t the only odd response following the Cavs loss.
Harden’s defense left much to be desired, and Jalen Brunson, who finished with 38 points while leading the Knicks’ comeback, lit up the 36-year-old whenever he guarded him.
But Atkinson never gave a thought to taking Harden out of the game.
“He’s been one of our best defenders in these playoffs. I trust him. Smart. Great hands. Didn’t think about that,” the Cavs coach said.
The Cavaliers will need to regroup after the ugly loss that many have described as a “choke job,” including NBA legend and “Inside the NBA” analyst Charles Barkley.
“I don’t like to get on TV and say people choked, but that was a damn choke job,” he said on air.
Fellow analyst and NBA great Shaquille O’Neal questioned Atkinson, saying, “I don’t think the coach of the Cavaliers had a great use of timeouts.”
“He let the lead go from 20 to six and never called a timeout,” Barkley added.
