Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson, with the Cavs down 3-0 to the Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals in May, surprised the basketball world when he said the analytics showed the Cavs were actually winning the series, two games to one.

“I think analytically, I think we’ve won the — I said three out of three, we’re two out of three in the expected wins,” Atkinson said after a practice ahead of Game 4. “I don’t know if you guys follow that — the expected score. We’ve won two out of three.”

No type of twisted analytics could help the Cavaliers in Game 4. The Knicks obliterated them, 130-99, at Rocket Arena to complete the sweep.

Using Atkinson’s logic, the Guardians should make the playoffs no matter what the final standings show because their strength of schedule for the remaining 45 games is the easiest any of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams will face in the balance of the regular season. Of course, they were swept out of Progressive Field by the 51-66 Mets in a three-game series to end a miserable homestand on Aug. 6, so nothing is guaranteed.

The Guardians started a three-game series with  White Sox in Chicago on Aug. 7 by winning, 8-2, to improve to 58-59 and trim Chicago’s lead in the AL Central to two games. The Guards are a half-game out of the third and final wild-card spot in the American League. Fourteen series will remain when they depart Chicago for three games with the Tigers in Detroit.

Here is where it becomes favorable for the Guardians. They host the Padres (currently 60-57), after facing the Tigers (56-60). After that, they host the San Francisco Giants, fourth in the NL West at 49-67, then hit the road to play the Colorado Rockies and Los Angeles Angels before closing out August in a home series with the Kansas City Royals. The Rockies (45-71) are last in the NL West, the Angels (45-71) are last in the AL West, and the Royals (48-69) are last in the AL Central.

The September schedule starts with three home games against the 55-62 Blue Jays, the cellar dwellers in the AL East. Three home games with the Tigers are next, followed by three road games in Baltimore (56-60) and three against the Twins (58-59) in Minnesota.

The Central Division standings might look different in five weeks, but what could be a showdown three-game series with the White Sox at Progressive Field begins Sept. 14 followed by three with the Athletics, who are tied with the Angels for last in the AL West. The Guardians finish on the road with three games in Boston and three in Kansas City.

To sum it up, only three of the remaining opponents — the Padres, White Sox and Red Sox (64-51) – have winning records.

• Many things from the Guardians this season are difficult to fathom. Their record at Progressive Field is one of them. The Guards are 30-28 on the road and 28-31 at home. They haven’t finished with a losing record at Progressive Field since 2021, when they finished 80-82 and in second place in the division, 13 games behind the White Sox. The Guardians were 40-41 at home in 2021.

I didn’t know that

… until I read my Snapple bottle cap

The observable universe has a diameter of an estimated 92 billion light years. … The popular belief that giraffes have no vocal cords is untrue. Giraffes communicate at night by humming quietly within their herd. … The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. … Meerkats look cute in the zoo, but the queen meerkat in a clan kills the offspring of her rivals so her own have the best chance of surviving. … The state motto of Ohio is “With God, all things are possible.”… Lake Superior is the world’s largest lake.