Atkinson Defends 'Analytically' Remark After Knicks Win Again
The Cavaliers coach says his post-elimination comment was taken out of context, a claim made fresh after a recent 12-point loss to New York.
By Ricardo Alvarez ·
Kenny Atkinson addressed the widespread ridicule surrounding his "analytically" comment from the Eastern Conference Finals, telling reporters on Saturday that the quote was stripped of its context. The Cavaliers coach faced his first media session since the incident while the team dealt with a fresh defeat to the New York Knicks.
Atkinson’s original remarks came after Game 3 of the playoffs, with Cleveland trailing 3-0. When asked how he could offer hope to a team facing a historic deficit, Atkinson cited expected score metrics. "Analytically … we've won 2 out of 3," he said. "We're two out of the three in the expected score. If you believe in process and all that, like, man, take that later."
The metric estimates the score a game should have produced based on shot quality and expected field goal percentage. Atkinson did not specify which games he referenced, though data from Prime Stats suggests he likely pointed to Game 1 and Game 3. In Game 3, New York won 121-113, but the expected score was a 113-113 tie. Game 1 went to overtime, where New York held a 10-point expected advantage over Cleveland in regulation.
The Knicks completed the series sweep by winning Game 4 by 37 points, 130-93. The margin of victory fueled the mockery of Atkinson’s earlier comments. Players from New York joined in on the joke. Josh Hart told his podcast audience that he guessed the team had lost analytically. Karl-Anthony Towns added that analytically, the Knicks should win the Best Team award.
The phrase quickly became shorthand for using statistics to justify a lopsided loss. Saturday’s game marked the first meeting between the rivals since the playoffs ended. New York won 109-97, and the expected score once again favored Cleveland slightly at 112-103. Atkinson did not reference those specific numbers during his postgame press conference.
Instead, the coach argued that the majority of his postgame remarks focused on how the Knicks dominated Cleveland. "I would just say there was no coach more complimentary of the Knicks and honest about our performance and how they dominated us," Atkinson said. He noted that 99% of his comments acknowledged New York as the better team.
Atkinson clarified that he was not suggesting the Cavaliers deserved to win the games they lost. "In no sense was it like, 'Oh, man, we deserve to be winning. Like zero, zero, thought of that," he explained. He admitted that discussing process is difficult when a team blows a 22-point fourth-quarter lead and falls behind 3-0, but he was attempting to rally his players in a difficult situation.
