Kenny Atkinson was named Coach of the Year last season. Could Atkinson be in danger of losing his job if the Cavaliers fail to get past the Pistons in their second-round series?<\/p>\n
Brett Seigel of Clutch Points (video link<\/a>) said there could be roster upheaval as well as a coaching change if that happens.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they kind of flame out as they have in past seasons in this second round series, there\u2019s going to be major question marks about what the future of this roster looks like and, more importantly, what Kenny Atkinson\u2019s future with Cavaliers looks like,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In any case, whichever coach ends up on the losing end of this series will endure a miserable summer, Jason Lloyd of The Athletic<\/a> opines.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s more on the Cavs:<\/p>\n Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who was fired by Cleveland after losing in the second round two seasons ago, does not have to worry about his job security in his current NBA home, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be here for a while, right?\u201d he said. \u201cAnd this group is going to be together for a while. So we have to do what\u2019s best for this group in total and not just react to our emotions in the moment. Being here, working with Trajan (Langdon) and Tom [Gores, Pistons owner], they\u2019ve afforded me the ability to be able to do that and see the game that way, where you don\u2019t feel like you have to win or lose every possession or your job\u2019s on the line.\u201d
\nIf the Cavs want to climb out of the 0-2 series hole, they\u2019ll need even more from Donovan Mitchell<\/a>, Lloyd<\/a> writes. He struggled through the opening round series against Toronto and in Game 1 against Detroit. He produced in Game 2, getting to the paint and attacking the basket while scoring 31 points but continued to misfire from distance.
\nJames Harden<\/a> was acquired to put the Cavs over the top. Instead, he\u2019s been a turnover machine, Joe Reedy of the Associated Press<\/a> writes. The 17-year veteran has more turnovers than field goals in four of Cleveland\u2019s nine playoff games, including the first two against Detroit. \u201cYou look within first. Look at my turnovers, and a lot of them are just on me. If you get a shot on glass, even half of that, and it\u2019s a different ball game. For me, I got to be better. I will be better (not) turning the basketball over and getting shots up. It gives our defense a chance to get back and be set,\u201d he said.
\nHow the Cavs finish this playoff run will have a significant impact on the reputations of both Harden and Mitchell, Jamal Collier of ESPN<\/a> opines. Mitchell says he doesn\u2019t feel pressure. \u201cThis isn\u2019t pressure. Getting your next meal is pressure,\u201d he said. \u201cWhere am I going to live? You know, that\u2019s pressure. This is an opportunity. This is fun. At least I know we put our best foot forward regardless of the result. \u2026 In years past, some s\u2014 just didn\u2019t go my way. Now I\u2019m like: We made the moves. We\u2019ve done the talk. Now, just continue to walk the walk.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kenny Atkinson was named Coach of the Year last season. Could Atkinson be in danger of losing his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":729920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,864,1648,560,3627],"class_list":["post-729919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-donovan-mitchell","tag-j-b-bickerstaff","tag-james-harden","tag-kenny-atkinson"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116545549962929237","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/729920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}