Cavaliers\u2019 130-117 win over the San Antonio Spurs<\/a>. \u201cWe all play different sports and if you\u2019re not playing well and losing, you\u2019re not exactly laughing and having a ball. I want our guys to be authentic. It\u2019s OK to be frustrated. It\u2019s OK to have a frown. It\u2019s OK to say, \u2018Darn it.\u2019 As long as you don\u2019t affect your teammates, that\u2019s part of it. You want to get back to that place of joy, and I think part of that process of improvement is dealing with frustration.\u201d<\/p>\nAtkinson didn\u2019t have to worry about that Friday night. <\/p>\n
Even after a lousy first half in which the Cavs surrendered 72 points, trailed for all but 40 seconds and were down eight at the break, Atkinson didn\u2019t stomp into the locker room, throwing a tantrum \u2014 or a sandal, something he did last season. There was no passionate speech. Just a brief discussion about playing better followed by a couple points of emphasis and tactical adjustments \u2014 Dean Wade moving into the third quarter starting lineup and an altered defensive approach (sending the ball toward the screen instead of away).<\/p>\n
Most importantly, following through on what they discussed on the off day. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think much changed,\u201d swingman Jaylon Tyson said. \u201cI think we just came out and had fun. I feel like that third quarter we had fun. Once we had fun, we just win basketball games. That\u2019s Cavs basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result: A second-half turnaround in which the Cavs outscored rattled San Antonio, 66-45, over those 24 minutes. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think our spirit was there the whole game,\u201d Donovan Mitchell said. \u201cI just think it\u2019s not always going to be perfect, right? You\u2019re not always going to come up just because you have spirit and energy. We come in at halftime and we figure it out. We did our thing in the third quarter.\u201d<\/p>\n
What looked like another demoralizing defeat became one of Cleveland\u2019s best \u2014 and most complete \u2014 halves of the season. It resulted in a much-needed, feel-good victory that had the music blaring and jokes cracking in the locker room afterward. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s going to be ups and downs, there\u2019s going to be adversity,\u201d Tyson explained. \u201cBut when you play free, when you play basketball, when you play [with] that love for your teammates, for the game, it makes everything easier. I think we just need to be over joyful. That\u2019s how I would put it. When we\u2019re together, super happy, laughing, having fun, obviously, we\u2019re serious about our craft, but being that team that\u2019s connected, I feel like that\u2019s when we\u2019re at our best.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Tyson said during a separate on-court interview, one win doesn\u2019t mean all of Cleveland\u2019s problems are solved. There is still plenty to correct \u2014 a never-ending quest for perfection. <\/p>\n
The Cavs are waiting to be at full strength, playing Friday night without six players \u2014 Darius Garland (injury toe management), Sam Merrill (right hand sprain), Jarrett Allen (strained finger), Max Strus (foot surgery), Tyrese Proctor (personal) and Larry Nance Jr. (calf strain). They are learning how to be the hunted, how to manage the spotlight, pressure and expectations that come with being an NBA title favorite instead of the plucky, overlooked upstart. They are adjusting to players being thrust into bigger roles, with ever-changing lineups and rotations. They are still studying how opponents are attacking them and learning the best counters for it. <\/p>\n
But in the meantime, Friday night helped reaffirm who the Cavs are \u2014 and can be \u2014 when they stay true to themselves. <\/p>\n
Defense into offense. Contributions across the roster \u2014 seven players scoring double figures and nine with at least one assist. Snappy ball movement \u2014 32 helpers, the third-most in any game this season. Attacking the paint \u2014 a franchise-record (since tracking began) 80 such points. Toughness on the boards \u2014 a 48-38 rebounding advantage. Playing with pace \u2014 24 fastbreak points. <\/p>\n
Attention to detail. Communication. Focus. Passion. Hunger. Tenacity. Connectivity. <\/p>\n
And then, of course, a secret ingredient that helped fuel a historic 2024-25 regular season: glee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2014 On Thursday, hours after their latest disappointing loss that exposed some glaring flaws, the Cavs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":333665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[356,355,168665,99],"class_list":["post-333664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-cleveland-cavaliers-2024-2025","tag-nba","tag-san-antonio-spurs-2025","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/333665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}