Scott Galvin-Imagn Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers are on the cusp of bombing out of the NBA playoffs in the Eastern Conference Finals. They trail the New York Knicks 3-0, and each successive game has been less and less encouraging for the Cavs.
While Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson has done a strong job to even get his team to this point, especially as the fourth seed in the conference, his latest comments won’t exactly have fans clamoring to have him back for the 2026-27 season.
When asked about what has gone wrong in the series thus far and how they could possibly turn things around, Atkinson pointed to the numbers below the surface.
“Analytically…we’ve won 2 out of 3”
— Kenny Atkinson pic.twitter.com/5Em0cDMFTK
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) May 24, 2026
“Analytically…we’re two out of three in the expected [score],” Atkinson told reporters. “I don’t know if you guys follow that, the expected score. And I know you’re looking confused.”
Confused? Not really.
Expected points are a stat, and you could certainly use them to justify that your team played well in two of the three games.
But the problem is that expected points don’t win games, actual points do, and Atkinson knows that.
“I know no one wants to hear that,” he said. “[With the] general public, everyone is outcome-based.”
Yeah, man, they don’t give you a trophy or rings for anything but the outcome. If you’re not outcome-based, perhaps you shouldn’t be coaching an NBA team.
Josh Hart And Kenny Atkinson Have Far Different Views On Analytics
Meanwhile, the Knicks are up 3-0 and on the verge of their first appearance in the NBA Finals in over three decades. And their view of analytics, at least that of starting guard Josh Hart, is significantly different than that of Atkinson.
“I’m never a huge analytics guy. At a certain point, they are a lamp post to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home,” Hart told reporters after game two, much to the delight of teammate Karl-Anthony Towns.
Josh Hart hates analytics:
“They’re lamp posts to a drunk person. You can lean on them, but it won’t get you home”
KAT couldn’t believe what he said 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/8FDi81GNDC
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) May 22, 2026
“At a certain point, you got to have a good feel for the game,” Hart added.
Atkinson certainly doesn’t seem to have that feel. He sure didn’t in a crushing series-opening loss that saw the Cavs blow a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter.
And now, with his team on the cusp of elimination, he doesn’t seem as if he’s likely to change his ways.