It’s tough to put into words how catastrophic the Cleveland Cavaliers’ collapse in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals was. No matter how you look at it, the Cavs squandered a golden opportunity to take a 1-0 lead on the New York Knicks and it’s difficult to envision them flushing this bad taste out of their mouths to move on and get back into this series.
The Cavs were up 22 with under eight minutes to play and saw the Knicks rip off a 44-11 run to close the game thanks to Jalen Brunson consistently torching James Harden in iso situations time and time again. While a lot of fingers have been pointed at Harden in the aftermath of the Game 1 debacle, there are bigger questions at hand surrounding head coach Kenny Atkinson, who could have subbed Harden out at any point to try to stop the bleeding.
In Wednesday’s episode of Afternoon Drive, Nick Wilson pointed the finger at everyone. There is still a lot of basketball left to play, so scapegoating one person doesn’t do any good, and he called out Atkinson, Harden, and Donovan Mitchell collectively.
“Who’s going to defend Kenny Atkinson today? James Harden, no defense from me today. Disappearing Donovan? He didn’t just disappear in the 4th quarter, he completely no-showed in the overtime as well,” said Wilson.
"Who's going to defend Kenny Atkinson today? James Harden, no defense from me today. Disappearing Donovan? He didn't just disappear in the 4th quarter, he completely no-showed in the overtime as well."
🚨 @NickWilsonSays and @JPeterlin on the #Cavs issues in the 4th quarter… pic.twitter.com/tnYy99gXxD
— 92.3 The Fan (@923TheFan) May 20, 2026
Atkinson has gotten destroyed for his refusal to make subs or to call any timeouts to stop New York’s run, and rightfully so. Hindsight is always 20/20, but you can’t blow a 22-point lead in eight minutes without coaching being at least somewhat responsible.
Even if it is one of the biggest choke jobs ever, it’s only one game. The Cavs knew going into this series they were going to have to win at MSG at least once, and just because it didn’t happen in Game 1 doesn’t mean it can’t happen in Games 2, 5, or 7.
On the bright side, you can’t build a 22-point lead without doing something right. Game 1 wasn’t all bad, and there are a lot of positive takeaways for the Cavs to build upon heading into Game 2. They just can’t sit idly by and watch leads evaporate like they did in Game 1, and they’ll have a day to process all of this ahead of what now becomes an even more critical Game 2 on Thursday.
NEXT: Cavs Game 1 Collapse Just Got A Brutal Assessment From A Cleveland Voice
