Maybe what we are witnessing from the Cavaliers and New York Knicks early in the 2026-27 NBA season is an Eastern Conference finals hangover.
The Knicks, defending league champs, lost their first two games of the current season.
The Cavs led the 76ers by 29 points in their season opener in Philadelphia on Oct. 22, collapsed in the second half, and lost, 114-106.
The Cavaliers had to wait 45 hours to play another game. The Brooklyn Nets, forecast to finish with the worst record in the Eastern Conference by betfanatics.com with an over-under of 24.5 (the Cavs’ over-under is 48.5) were seemingly the perfect opponent for the Cavs looking to get on the winning track, especially since they were playing in front of their fans in Rocket Arena.
The Cavs led the Nets, 68-54, at intermission, and 104-82 with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter before they collapsed again. This time, though, the collapse wasn’t complete. They held off a fourth-quarter Brooklyn rally and escaped, 125-121.
“It’s always how you respond,” Coach Kenny Atkinson said in his pregame news conference. “It shows your mental toughness, resiliency and all that stuff. Obviously, we’ll have the extra hype of the crowd behind us. That will help, too.”
The Cavaliers’ performance against the Nets was more methodical than anything else. The Cavs turned the ball over 15 times in the second half in Philadelphia. Peyton Watson and James Harden were each guilty of four turnovers. Donovan Mitchell turned it over three times.
Atkinson figured a film session on Oct. 24 would be more valuable than practice. The Cavs are veteran enough to hear straight talk from their coach when things need correcting.
“It was a good learning film session,” Atkinson said. “The great thing about our guys is you can tell them the truth; ‘Here’s what I saw. Here’s where we can get better.’ And then we walk through the details of those strategies.
“Mental days are huge in the NBA. It isn’t a practice league. It’s a mental focus league.”
Atkinson’s strategy for cutting down on turnovers was plain and simple. He even cracked a self-deprecating joke about how elementary and obvious it is.
“Pass the ball to the open man,” he said.
The Cavs got away from that basic concept in Philadelphia, especially when the 76ers started chewing into the Cleveland lead. Compounding the problem was that the Cavs made only two of the 14 3-point shots they attempted in the second half.
Atkinson sat like a spectator and watched the lead evaporate in Philadelphia.
The Nets made a run in the fourth quarter. Just like he had a “mental day” for his players, Atkinson learned from his own mistake when he did not call a timeout to cool off the Sixers.
The Nets cut into the 104-82 Cleveland lead with a 15-4 run, before Atkinson called a timeout with 7:08 remaining. Atkinson used the timeout to substitute Jarett Allen for Evan Mobley. Allen finished with 21 points. Mitchell led with 22. Mobley added 20 points.
The Cavaliers turned the ball over eight times in the fourth quarter against the Nets. Brooklyn drained nine of 16 3-point attempts in the fourth quarter.
“Ninety percent of the game, I thought we played really well,” Atkinson said. “We shared the ball, played great basketball. Part of this is we’re not in elite condition right now.”
A home game Oct. 26 with the Minnesota Timberwolves is next on the schedule. The film session Oct. 25 should be educational.