CLEVELAND — Kenny Atkinson has been getting mocked for months. The jokes at the Cavaliers coach’s expense — courtesy of Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns and countless others — could continue for years to come.
After losing the first three games of the Eastern Conference finals, Atkinson infamously said that the Cavaliers had “analytically” won two of the first three games against the Knicks, but the Long Island native wishes the question that prompted his comment — regarding what hope the Cavaliers had of becoming the first NBA team to overcome a 3-0 series deficit — had as long a lifespan.
“When you take the context of the question, I’m not sure that was taken into account, that’s a little bit of a lesson for me, you can just take a sound bite,” Atkinson said.
“There was no coach more complimentary of the Knicks and honest about our performance and how they dominated us … 99 percent of my comments were how they dominated us. They were by far the better team.”
Even if some of the numbers were on Cleveland’s side, Atkinson acknowledges that so much of the difference in the lopsided series couldn’t be measured.
“There’s the mental toughness, the physical toughness, how aggressive you are, all these other intangibles that go into that,” Atkinson said. “In no sense was it like, ‘Oh man, we deserve to be winning.’ There was zero thought of that.”
The Knicks traveled without Hart, who missed his second consecutive game due to right ankle soreness despite practicing with the team the previous day in New York.
The Knicks have not set a timetable for Hart’s return, but coach Mike Brown expressed no long-term concern, noting that the team’s schedule — featuring one game in a five-day span — played a role in giving Hart additional time to recover.
“It’s nothing major,” Brown said. “He did go through some of practice [Friday]. I set him out of some contact, so we just want to take advantage where we are schedule-wise.”
Brown named Andre Drummond the Knicks’ best defensive player in the 109-97 win.
The backup big man had eight rebounds, two steals and one block in 14 minutes
Jose Alvarado recorded a DNP-CD, while Tyler Kolek backed up Jalen Brunson, finishing with five assists, four rebounds and one steal in 14 minutes
Jordan Clarkson shot 4-for-5, finishing with nine points and two offensive rebounds. … Mikal Bridges’ shooting struggles continued, as he shot just 1-for-7 on 3-pointers, finishing with nine points. … The Knicks held a 26-8 edge in second-chance points.
Hart, who missed eight games last season with a right ankle injury, also missed the team’s preseason finale Oct. 15 due to the same issue. The 31-year-old started each of the team’s first seven games of the season, most recently suiting up in Monday’s win against the Nets. He is averaging 8.6 points — his fewest in eight years — while shooting a career-worst 38.6 percent from the field.
Landry Shamet, who scored nine points, made his second consecutive start in Hart’s place.
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