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NBA NBA Season Latest Kenny Atkinson wasn't happy with the Cavaliers' defensive effort Tuesday. Patrick Mc Dermott / Getty Images CLEVELAND — Find a coach riding a four-game winning streak with a longer face than the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Kenny Atkinson. “I just told the team in the locker room, if we’re going to play defense like this, we’re going to have a short playoff stint, ” a melancholy Atkinson told reporters after the Cavs beat a desperate Orlando Magic team, 136-131, on a night Donovan Mitchell scored 42 points. Advertisement “Right now we have a mentality that we’re just gonna outscore people, and we all know when it comes to playoff time, it’s not going to be that easy offensively, ” Atkinson said. “We know we’re not always going to shoot like we’re scoring now. So, if we’re giving up 132, 128, I don’t know, seems like every day, we’re not going anywhere. ” Again, this team has won its last four. In those last four victories, three have come against teams that will not be in the playoffs (Milwaukee, Chicago and New Orleans). The Cavs allowed 116, 110 and 106 points in those games, which is actually below the league average of 115. 3 points allowed this season. So perhaps it’s the games that bookend those three wins: an ugly, 130-points-allowed loss to Dallas, which, like those other three teams, is not going anywhere; and the win over Orlando on Tuesday against a Magic team that has the 16th-best offense in the league. During this winning streak, the Cavs nearly blew a 29-point lead to the Bulls and had to mount comebacks to beat the Bucks (without Giannis Antetokounmpo) and Pelicans. The Cleveland offense is soaring, and Atkinson pointed that out when a reporter, thinking he was picking up on Atkinson’s vibe, stated that the Cavs weren’t playing well overall in this four-game winning streak. “We’re the number one offensive team over the last (several) games, ” Atkinson said. “But there’s two sides of the ball. We’re tilted one way right now. … You have to be good on both ends. You got to be top 10 (on) offense and defense; it gives you the best chance. We’re not. ” Again, for a team on a winning streak, Atkinson went pretty far in criticizing his players. He said problems include “compete level, ” which in coach-speak means the players aren’t trying; he said “IQ level and understanding of the game, ” … yeesh; and he also said the Cavs give up too many offensive rebounds. Advertisement He said he didn’t want to hear excuses, such as Jarrett Allen, a solid rim protector, and Jaylon Tyson, a strong wing defender, being out with injuries. “You’ve got the defensive player of the year, we’ve got Keon Ellis, we got defenders, ” Atkinson said, citing, without naming, reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Evan Mobley, and Ellis, whom the Cavs traded for at the February deadline. Atkinson also said the team’s “leaders have to take ownership, getting that locker room to take ownership of defending better. ” Who are the Cavs’ leaders? Well, there is Mitchell and James Harden, the two (by far) most highly decorated players on the team. That’s a pretty wide, public airing of grievances against a locker room that is, for all intents and purposes, winning. “We’re going to find the guys — the guys who will be in our (playoff) rotation are guys who defend, ” Atkinson added. The players confirmed this was, in fact, Atkinson’s message to them after they jogged off the home court, victorious. “As much as we have to be better, I am glad we are in these positions, ” Mitchell said. “We don’t want to be in these positions, let me preface that, but now that we’re here, let’s execute. We got six defensive stops in a row in New Orleans. So it’s there. That’s why this loss, or this win, excuse me, feels different. Because it’s like, all right, it’s there, now we have to find a way to finish it. ” Mobley is not a vocal leader by his nature. He is more the silent, switching, hands-in-passing-lanes, guard-all-five positions type. Mobley is also, at least in terms of hardware, the Cavs’ best defender. So he said he takes it personally to hear Atkinson challenge the team’s defense. “It’s a conversation between the players because we’re the ones out there, ” Mobley said. “We just have to communicate (as well) as possible, get to our spots and make it tough on them. I think I can be better, I think everyone can be better. ” HOW did James Harden make this pass? ! ? In midair. Behind the back. Without looking. Just RIDICULOUS from The Beard. pic. twitter. com/w ZQBBmpy6I — NBA (@NBA) March 25, 2026 Harden has never been considered a strong defender. He was acquired at the trade deadline for Darius Garland, who is much smaller than Harden but otherwise, like him, has never been considered a strong defender. Harden scored 26 points with seven assists, and, to the naked eye, seemed to pound out more possessions by himself than Cavs watchers are used to seeing. Advertisement Mitchell described a gamble he considered taking on the first defensive possession of the third quarter, and his indecision led to Desmond Bane taking (and missing) a wide-open 3-pointer. Atkinson’s own actions didn’t seem to match his message. He played Dean Wade only 21 minutes and Ellis for 20 minutes. Thomas Bryant, whom Atkinson lavishly praised as a backup big who always tries on defense, logged only 13 minutes. If those players are directly behind Mobley, or even next to him, as the team’s top defenders, and Atkinson is going to prioritize defense in the playoffs, well, he didn’t do it against the Magic. Cleveland’s closing lineup was Harden and Mitchell, Mobley, Sam Merrill and Max Strus — which Atkinson explained as “I figured we couldn’t get stops, so might as well put the guys out there who can put the ball in the hole. ” The Cavs have 10 games remaining. The schedule doesn’t get much tougher. Another desperate Florida team, the Miami Heat, plays in Cleveland on Wednesday and Friday. The Cavs head west to play Utah (bottom feeder), the Lakers (strong) and Golden State (decimated by injury). There is a home-and-home left against the surging Atlanta Hawks, who could end up being Cleveland’s first-round opponent in the playoffs. And there are games against Memphis, Indiana and Washington — all of them tanking. Aside from the relatively easy schedule, the Cavs are basically cemented in the No. 4 seed. Running the table and getting some help could catapult them into third place or perhaps second, and a catastrophic string of losses could drop them to sixth. But realistically, this is a team that knows it’s going to be the No. 4 seed and host Game 1 of a first-round series. There isn’t much left to chase. Which makes this stretch about something else. Atkinson is trying to get his team’s attention before the playoffs do it for him. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle Joe Vardon is a senior NBA writer for The Athletic, based in Cleveland. Follow Joe on Twitter @joevardon