CLEVELAND - Before Sunday night's game against the Boston Celtics, Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said he wanted to see what his team would look like after back-to-back losses to the Atlanta Hawks -- the first adversity they have faced this season.
Then, when the Cavaliers found themselves down by 14 in the third quarter, it felt like Cleveland could potentially get run out of its own building by the defending champions who were without Jaylen Brown (illness) and Derrick White (foot).
"That was kind of my question mark a little bit with this team after those two losses to Atlanta," Atkinson would say later, "and it looked like we were down and out that third quarter.