Former Player Gives High Praise To Kenny Atkinson, Cavs Bench

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t face much adversity throughout the course of the regular season.

Now, with Game 1 in the books, it’s time to prove what they’re made of.

That’s why Booby Gibson believes the second unit will be crucial to even things up.

Talking on the Full Court Cleveland podcast, the former NBA player argued that Kenny Atkinson had done an outstanding job of empowering his bench players, and they will need to step up to take care of business in this series:

“You understand the flow of the game when you’re able to dictate the pace from the bench,” Gibson said. “It might be scoring, it might be assisting, whatever it is. I think every single guy has been empowered all season by coach [Kenny Atkinson].”

After dropping Game 1, the #Cavs need to trust what got them this far! #LetEmKnow

"It might be scoring, it might be assisting, but Coach has empowered these guys all year."

– @boobysworld1

Presented by @SmartChoiceWin_https://t.co/tdq56DMiz3 pic.twitter.com/cNwGxkuDos

— Full Court Cleveland (@FullCourtCLE) May 5, 2025

The second unit has been crucial all year long, with multiple players stepping up and taking over on any given night.

Led by Sixth Man of the Year candidate Ty Jerome, they were able to not only maintain or build leads but also get the team back into games multiple times.

The Cavs have listed Darius Garland (toe), Evan Mobley (ankle), and De’Andre Hunter (thumb) as questionable for Tuesday night’s matchup.

They will all reportedly be game-time decisions.

Even if they suit up, which they should, they will be banged up and far from 100%.

It will be up to everybody else to pick up the slack and contribute.

The Cavs are a deep team, and while things are looking tough right now, they should have more than enough to get right back into this series.