{"id":299590,"date":"2025-11-18T18:24:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T18:24:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/299590\/"},"modified":"2025-11-18T18:24:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T18:24:13","slug":"its-a-slog-cavs-have-the-second-best-record-in-the-east-but-why-has-it-been-such-a-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/299590\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s a slog\u2019: Cavs have the second-best record in the East \u2014 but why has it been such a struggle?"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 The Cavs<\/a>\u2019 play of late \u2014 wins wrapped in mercurial stretches \u2014 has left coach Kenny Atkinson struggling to find the right descriptor.<\/p>\n

On Monday night, after their latest uneven performance, Atkinson\u2019s word choice brought back haunting memories of a darker time. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of like a \u2014 is \u2018slug\u2019 a word? Like, it\u2019s a slug. A slog? What\u2019s the word? Slog! A slug is an animal, right? So, it\u2019s a slog,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cAnd we gotta figure it out.\u201d <\/p>\n

Phew. Glad he cleared that up. Wouldn\u2019t want a repeat of former coach John Beilein\u2019s verbal blunder that led to him apologizing a half decade ago \u2014 an infamous slipup that accelerated his eventual exit. <\/p>\n

Atkinson collected himself and then continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m glad we pulled it out. That game\u2019s not going to go in the Hall of Fame for the Cavs. How should I say it? It\u2019s not smooth sailing right now. I say that with all humility. We won the game. Great. We\u2019re still a little bit clunky on both sides of the ball,\u201d Atkinson explained. \u201cI told the guys we\u2019ve been kind of coming with our B game. Against the better teams, we\u2019ve gotta raise our standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been that kind of tenor from Atkinson much of the first month. <\/p>\n

The Cavs beat the Bucks, 118-106<\/a>. They are 10-5. They woke up Tuesday morning with the Eastern Conference\u2019s second-best record and third-best point differential \u2014 despite Max Strus not yet making his debut following offseason foot surgery, All-Star point guard Darius Garland limited to just three games thus far, eight different starting lineups and a few stylistic tweaks.<\/p>\n

But after everything that happened a year ago, on the heels of another playoff flameout, the Cavs are under a microscope. Atkinson and others within the organization have made it clear: The regular season is not solely about the win-loss record. It\u2019s about developing championship habits. It\u2019s about the how and why, processes that the Cavs hope will lead to a better springtime outcome. It\u2019s about allowing youngster Evan Mobley \u2014 the linchpin of Cleveland\u2019s title hopes \u2014 to grow his offensive wings and become more of a reliable focal point. It\u2019s about finding what works and what doesn\u2019t. Establishing an identity. Setting a daily standard. Then playing to it, no matter the circumstances. <\/p>\n

Is that happening? <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like it\u2019s coming and then we kind of regress back,\u201d Atkinson said. \u201cI think our talent level is such as that we can still eke out wins like this, but we all know collectively, we gotta do better.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese last two games, there\u2019s some focus things out there where we kind of \u2014 we all saw it. We\u2019ll look at it, we\u2019ll analyze it. My job is to help them help smooth this thing out. I don\u2019t want to seem doomsday here. You get a win in the NBA, it\u2019s tough. But we know we can play better.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday night, 48 hours after Atkinson talked about his team needing to find its collective juice, Cleveland came out a little, ahem, sluggish. <\/p>\n

It was in an 11-2 hole less than three minutes into the game. Trailed by double digits for a long stretch of the first quarter. Didn\u2019t take its first lead until the second quarter. And had to fight uphill almost the entire half. <\/p>\n

That climb became more surmountable at the 3:03 mark of the first half, as Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo exited with a groin injury and never returned. <\/p>\n

Even still, it wasn\u2019t, to borrow one of Atkinson\u2019s phrases, smooth sailing from there. It took a 10-3 run late in the fourth quarter to finally create enough comfortable breathing room and put away the pesky Giannis-less Bucks. <\/p>\n

Not quite up to standard. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not going to be perfect and that\u2019s OK,\u201d Donovan Mitchell said. \u201cBut every day we come in here to work, win, lose or draw. We\u2019re going to have nights where we play well, we\u2019re going to have nights we play bad, but there\u2019s a standard of effort, there\u2019s a standard of energy, the mental, intensity, being locked in even when you\u2019re physically not there. We\u2019re talented. We can compete with anybody in this league. But the next level is being able to push through that mental.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s definitely not perfect,\u201d added Sam Merrill, who played through a finger injury and scored 20 points. \u201cLuckily, we still got a long way to go here in the season. I do feel like we are talking about the right things. There\u2019s some clunky spacing at times. A lot of new guys trying to figure out roles. We\u2019ll get there. We\u2019ve got the talent, we\u2019ve got the personnel, we\u2019ve got the coaching staff. There\u2019s no egos. No issues there. We\u2019ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before the regular season began, Atkinson spoke about needing 15 games before he could provide a proper, clear-eyed, stats-backed evaluation of this team. <\/p>\n

The Cavs have hit the 15-game threshold. So, what does Atkinson think now?<\/p>\n

\u201cCan I get 25 [games] this year?\u201d he asked with a laugh. \u201cIt\u2019s just different. It\u2019s a different team. It\u2019s a different situation. Sometimes it just takes longer to figure out your team. There\u2019s four, sometimes five new guys in the rotation. That\u2019s different from last year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve still got to figure that out, what all that looks like and how to best. \u2026 it\u2019s really putting the best guys around Evan and Don, and we\u2019re still searching a little bit for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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