Kenny Atkinson takes jokes as lesson for ‘analytically’ comment in last season’s playoff loss to Knicks

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson says he learnt a lesson after a remark about Cleveland having “analytically” won two of the first three games against the Knicks was mocked for months. He says the comment was taken out of the context of a question about whether the Cavaliers could recover from a 3-0 deficit, and stresses that New York was clearly the better team in their Eastern Conference finals series.

Atkinson acknowledged that statistics could not capture the mental and physical toughness that shaped the series. In a separate game, the Knicks beat Cleveland 109-97 without Josh Hart, who missed his second straight game with right ankle soreness; coach Mike Brown said the injury was nothing major. Andre Drummond had eight rebounds, two steals and a block in 14 minutes, while New York scored 26 second-chance points to Cleveland’s eight.