May 19, 2026. The Cavaliers were enjoying a 20+ point lead to the Knicks in the fourth quarter. It’s the ECF, and the promise is certainly there. After two Game 7’s, they were playing fantastically against the league’s hottest team.
By the end of the night, they were stunned. A week later, they were out of the playoffs. And now, the very first game of their 2026-27 season, the very same patterns started to emerge.
Once leading by as many as 29 points, things just went the other way. Completely. And now, they’re left to unravel exactly what went wrong this time around.
Is Kenny Atkinson on the hot seat one game into the season?
Cavs Dream Start Turns Into Nightmare Finish
Late in the second quarter, the Cavs had a 69-40 lead on the Sixers. They managed five quick points to end the second. A 9-0 run in the opening minute of the third quarter. They eventually chipped away and made it happen. And in the process, LeBron James was part of a third memorable first game against Cleveland with a new team.
James didn’t dominate this time, finishing with 17-10-5 and three steals, but the 41-year-old made some timely plays when they needed. He helped ignite the third-quarter run. And after taking care of the Knicks in their opener, Philly held it down again.
From the Cavs side of things, there really isn’t too much to say that’s positive. The start was brilliant. Mario Hezonja and Evan Mobley both looked very sharp. But once more, the team unfortunately went away from what was working. The bigs stopped getting touches. The ball either wasn’t moving fast enough, or they were getting sped up.
Peyton Watson may need a little bit of time to get his feet wet here. He arrived in Cleveland with a lot of promise. He’s taking the place of the team’s ultimate hustle and glue guy, Max Strus, who was also able to knock in some threes. To be fair, though, he is out to open this season, and missed the first 67 a year ago.
Two Days Until The Return To Action
Donovan Mitchell’s 32 points on an efficient night don’t mean much because he wasn’t able to help them stop the bleeding. He missed two critical free throws that could have cut the deficit to two inside of 90 seconds. He is going to have a major campaign, but it was tough to see from him in the first contest.
James Harden didn’t find any kind of footing until the last three minutes of the game. Nice to see that it happened, but like that ECF series, he was not able to play the game at his pace. The booing didn't exactly help.
Cleveland will battle the Nets on Saturday in their home opener. Hopefully, a taste of home cooking can help them find their footing.
This loss though, is eerily familiar to the one they suffered in Game 1 of the 2026 ECF. This time, they will try and shake it off against different opponents.
Hopefully Kenny Atkinson has a plan. Because whatever this second half was, absolutely was not it.
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