Kenny Atkinson didn’t need a second look to know what went wrong in Cleveland’s opener. The Sixers turned up the heat, and the Cavs never really found a clean answer.
“They upped their pressure and physicality. It was pretty clear. We did not handle it well,” Atkinson said after Cleveland blew a 29-point lead, via Zach Weiss of Sports Illustrated.
That kind of collapse is hard to ignore for a team trying to move beyond its playoff stumble against the Knicks. Still, Atkinson framed it as a lesson for a veteran group that has to absorb the hit and move forward.
“These are great experiences. This is how you build character, how you build resiliency, how you figure things out,” he said.
“I look at it as a positive; we’ve got a veteran team. We’ll bounce back and get ready for Brooklyn.”
Cleveland’s first half gave the picture of a team in control. The second half showed how quickly that can disappear when the pressure rises.
“We did some great things in the first half and played Cavs basketball, but then they really imposed their will,” Atkinson said.
Now the challenge is immediate. The Nets come next, and the Cavs will be looking to prove they can answer adversity instead of folding under it.
Brooklyn has problems of its own after an opening-night loss, and the assignment in Cleveland starts with making Donovan Mitchell uncomfortable. Mitchell was sharp against the Sixers, posting 32 points on 11-of-19 shooting with 10 rebounds.
Sameer Kumar of Sports Illustrated also pointed out the Nets will have to deal with the tandem work of James Harden feeding Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley inside. That kind of interior pressure can tilt a game fast if Brooklyn can’t keep it under control.
On the other side, Julius Randle gave the Nets a few encouraging moments in their loss to the Hornets by getting downhill and opening things up for teammates, including Michael Porter Jr. Brooklyn needs more of that as its young guards keep working through the early stages.
Egor Demin went through the opener without a made 3-pointer, while rookie Mikel Brown Jr. showed flashes in his debut. Jordi Fernandez has plenty to sort through with that backcourt ahead of a meeting with a seasoned Cleveland group.
Toronto, meanwhile, has started 2-0 without needing its cleanest offensive night. The Raptors beat the Wizards, 112-102, on Friday despite going just 7-of-34 from three and committing eight turnovers from Scottie Barnes, who still led the team in scoring and rebounding.
The edge came on the defensive end. Toronto held Washington to four made field goals in the first quarter and built a double-digit cushion from there, as Jeremy Brener of Sports Illustrated noted.
Winning on the road while shooting like that is a good sign. Doing it over and over is a different matter.
The Raptors now head to Minnesota for a Sunday matchup with the also-unbeaten Timberwolves, and the formula looks simple enough: keep bringing the defense, and clean up the turnovers.
In Other News...
Nets Already Face A Tough Michael Porter Jr Decision
Michael Porter Jr. gave Brooklyn an immediate reminder of why the Nets brought him in, scoring 26 points in the opener and giving the offense a needed jolt. He also looked the part of a wing the Nets can lean on, contributing across the board as Brooklyn opened the season with a clearer sense of his value on the floor than it has had since the move.
The harder question is what comes next, because Porter is playing on an expiring deal and the front office has to decide whether to make him part of the long-term picture or use him as a trade asset before his contract situation becomes even more complicated. A strong start only sharpens the dilemma for Brooklyn, which now has to weigh present production against the cost and uncertainty of keeping him beyond this season. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Are Taking A Cautious Approach With Mikel Brown Jr
Mikel Brown Jr. has only just started to ease back into the Nets rotation after the ankle injury he dealt with in the preseason, and Brooklyn is clearly not rushing the process. The rookie guard came off the bench for 20 minutes in each of the teams first two games, but the organization has put him on a minutes limit as he continues to work his way back.
Jordi Fernandez said that restriction is not about a quick ramp-up, which helps explain why Brown is expected to sit out the next game. For a Nets team trying to build continuity early, the approach fits with the broader rotation choices Fernandez made in the opener, when Drake Powell, Ben Saraf and Danny Wolf did not play as Brooklyn focused on the current group. [Read more 🡒]
Nets Turned A Brutal Night Into One Painful What If
For most of the night, it looked like Brooklyn was headed for a long, frustrating finish against Cleveland. Then the Nets started chipping away, with Michael Porter Jr. carrying the offense at 28 points and nine rebounds, Julius Randle adding 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Egor Dmin giving the rally a jolt with a 22-point night that helped turn a blowout feel into something much more tense.
Brooklyns comeback bid made the closing minutes feel like a game the Nets could have stolen, which only deepened the sting when it slipped away 125-121. The late surge was real enough to leave one of those painful what ifs hanging over the locker room, especially after a night when the Cavaliers had once looked comfortably in control. [Read more 🡒]