Kenny Atkinson did not walk into the postgame press conference looking for excuses. After watching his Cleveland Cavaliers drop a 109-97 decision to the New York Knicks on Saturday night, the head coach did something that caught a lot of people off guard. He praised the team that just beat him.
Atkinson was asked about what made New York so difficult to handle, and his answer was honest in a way that felt almost disarming.
“They really have solutions…Continuity…3 of them played in college…great chemistry…on a string both ends…whatever you throw at them they find solution…They got Kolek, Brunson, McBride getting rebounds…we have to rebound better…,” Atkinson said.
"They really have solutions…Continuity…3 of them played in college…great chemistry…on a string both ends…whatever you throw at them they find solution…They got Kolek, Brunson, McBride getting rebounds…we have to rebound better…"
–– Kenny Atkinson on Cavs 1-7 vs Knicks pic.twitter.com/jKi3SUhOaX
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) November 8, 2026
The continuity point is real. The Knicks have been building this group for years, and the trust they play with on both ends of the floor shows up in the small moments of a game. When Cleveland threw something at them on Saturday night, New York had an answer almost every time.
The rebounding comment is where it really hurts. Atkinson essentially acknowledged that his team got outworked on the glass by guards. Brunson, McBride, and Kolek are not big men. They are perimeter players. And they were still crashing the boards hard enough to make the Cavaliers head coach single them out by name in his postgame remarks. New York pulled down 49 rebounds to Cleveland’s 40, with a 16-10 edge on the offensive glass. Getting dominated on the boards by a team’s guards is not a small problem. That is a cultural and effort issue that goes beyond scheme.
What makes Atkinson’s comments notable is the broader context they reveal. Cleveland is now 1-7 against the Knicks in recent memory, and that number does not lie. New York has figured something out against this Cavaliers team, and right now Cleveland does not have an answer for it. The chemistry, the continuity, the toughness on the glass, all of it adds up to a matchup problem that Atkinson is clearly aware of.
Giving credit to your opponent is the right thing to do after a loss. But the best version of this Cavaliers team should not be getting outrebounded by guards and struggling to find solutions against a team built around continuity. Cleveland has the talent to be better than a 1-7 record against one opponent, and at some point acknowledgment has to turn into adjustment.
The Knicks are a problem. Atkinson knows it. Now the question is what he plans to do about it.
NEXT: Donovan Mitchell Gets Honest About Cavs’ Loss To Knicks
