Cavs at Heat, Game 4 | Kenny Atkinson Media Availability | 4.28.2025

Cavs at Heat, Game 4 | Kenny Atkinson Media Availability | 4.28.2025

just before we get started um just want to uh again reiterate my respect for um the Miami Heat their program um you know they they uh they went through a gauntlet before they played us so we we had a big advantage big physical advantage so um it’s it’s pretty amazing what they did um you know as a Tennessee to to win two playing games on the road and and then you know we had seven eight days of rest so um and I always uh appreciate the class they play with win lose they they don’t play dirt they don’t play dirty um they’re you know win with humility when they lose they’re they’re just a class program just um utmost respect um for their for their club their coaching staff um players in that locker room d Kenny we talked before the game about how difficult closeout games can be obviously this had a very wide margin of victory and as both games down here did how did you guys avoid complacency after building a two- lead at home great leadership um our that first five minutes and then Jared Allen probably led by him but led by our starters and then you know Dan when our bench comes in we don’t skip a beat right we we even you know get stronger you know so um um but we came out we came down here with the right mentality um and and again I I just say our maturity our leadership all all that stuff we’ve been talking out all year we don’t seem to have let downs you know and that that’s that’s rare it’s it’s just rare um you know um in in with any team we rarely have let downs you mentioned in your opening statement the rest before this series now taking care of business you get that again going into the second round how important is that for another playoff it’s huge huge i think um you know we’ll see what it what happens it gives us a day or two days this is you know looking big picture hopefully you know we can extend this thing and and uh but it’ll it’ll you know it gives us another another advantage we we’ve done our work early all year came out of the gate and and and play really well and then and then you know getting this first seed it’s um um that’s how you do it that’s if you’re going to script it this this is how you do it you try to um um you know get series over so you can get your rest and and and uh sleep in your own bed and and and then you have some practice time too um and then heal the bumps and bruises speaking of Jared uh with his success rate in this series is there anything that just stood out to you with him the last four games i mean you know defensively I thought he was phenomenal um you know his activity at the rim but it I I thought you know this is the first time I’ve really seen seen him extend his defense to the three-point line that was part of our scouting report we we got to we got to pressure their bigs cuz obviously we’re top locking you know hero oh so if you do that you have to have great pressure so um you know he’s usually more back you know play playing lower and I I thought um um that was great and then then offensively his ability to get out of the pick and roll you know we were running a lot of small small pick and rolls so he wasn’t involved as as much as he usually is but him running the floor him playing the dunker and then you know his timely um timely rebounds offensive rebounds he he had a great series chris hey Kenny there have been various points throughout the course of this year where you’ve said something along the lines of you know I see a focus level with this team and practice and shoot around that like kind of informs me of what’s coming from the group did you sense that from this team earlier today at shoot around yeah yeah i I um but you never know but again Chris it’s like um you know led led by Donovan and our you know you know our kind of big four those guys um those guys set the right tone um you know send the right message to the guys um I I really I really don’t have to say anything it it’s all kind of been said amongst them before I get to my pregame speech or or film um there’s just a connection and and a camaraderie and and um our leaders kind of send the right message and everybody kind of follows and then what was the adjustment that you made over the last two games to get DeAndre more involved in the offense um that’s a good question we really didn’t make any adjustments i think it was just him him kind of gaining more confidence and more being more comfortable um you know um Ty find them you know you know Tai scoring actually helped cuz they started to blitz Tai and and then and then And then And then And then And then And then And then And then And then And then And Drece found some catch and shoot threes and once he saw a few go down I think that just that just fueled them um and then I thought he was really good uh recognizing the cross matches and the mismatches in transition um so um another guy he had a phenomenal phenomenal series joe so as you remember of course when DeAndre got to Cleveland he was all world for a month and then from mid-March to maybe up to the other day not as good were you Did you ever get concerned that we wouldn’t get back to the DeAndre that we had seen that the first first month there my my only concern was from my perspective you know like like man like um I’m I’m kind of not finding the right um you know position for him to succeed that that that’s the first thing you look at and you know am I relying too much on the other guys that that I know you know that’s you always say that with with a new guy but um Joe I said this before i think of a circumstances guy hadn’t been home we go on that hellacious road trip um he kind of gets off his routine um you know doesn’t have a place he’s staying in the hotel i just think he got I think he got off you know kind of offkilter and and where maybe in the beginning he was just just coming in with adrenaline so I once he got back you know um got kind of got his feet under him get you know you know he he you know he took off again so I think a lot of it was circumstances and then I I I’m not trying to use your words against you i know why you said it at the start of the series but leading into this series you were saying that playing the Heat you’re going to they’re so tough you’re going to learn some things you’re going to be a better team because you had played against them all all those things and then you won the series by 122 points i I don’t think that’s ever happened in the NBA before so I guess the the question just is what did you learn in this series i I will say those first two games were were close right like like we we imagine if they get one of those games and they they could have gotten you know they could have gotten both i think Spo said the same thing so and maybe I’m being you know like super um kind of paranoid or or you know over overthinking this thing but um those first two games um could have gone either way and so um I thought we learned a lot about ourselves in those first two games um cuz we had to you know kind of kind of fight through that and then coming here was a mentality like you’re on the road you know especially game three you know I I think that was you know this you know this game whatever you know I think game three was was was a big one and we just came out and and hit first and had a great um great mindset so you learn you learn right every series you learn something so we you know I I I’ll stand by that statement when you play this this team this club you you uh it was um I think it helped us get more battle tested kenny congrats uh I’d like to stop for 10 seconds and bring you back to midepptember the end of September in the very beginning of the season uh what memories do you have in your mind of those first days working with this with this group and if in that moment you could imagine uh how is the team right now and at this level at this moment the semi-finals with this level yeah I think I’ve said this a couple of times but you know after the first two days of training camp with all the coaches we go in and we talk we’re just like wow like this team um is so skilled um they’re so together um and they compete like super hard that that was you know that was after two days of training camp like that that was but at no time did we say you know um you know hey you know we’re going to be the first seed or so um I remember we lost the first what we lost to four exhibition games right and then going to Chicago and absolutely get try you know right like we couldn’t couldn’t keep up with them and you know so it wasn’t like oh man we’re we’re we got this great team you know you I was you know I know they say don’t pay attention to preseason but I was were a little nervous like with you know kind of what’s going on here um but again these guys know them they they kind of have a a pretty good confidence about themsel about themselves um but I I didn’t have that feeling after after preseason kenny what does it say about this team that you guys can come to Miami for two games without Darius Garland and win those games back by 92 points yeah I mean that’s that’s um one of your all-star players it just goes to show how deep we are right and you know Darius was out but that gave Dean some more minutes um I you know we we could kind of tie more minutes um so um just shows how deep we are um and and legitimately deep right like not okay man this guy came out of the you know rotation players that that can really contribute to winning um I’m not sure there’s any team in the league that that can go that deep with with with with so many rotation players okay all right thanks everybody

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Kenny Atkinson spoke with the media following a 138-83 win over the Miami Heat on April 28, 2025 at Kaseya Center.