Kenny Atkinson Responds After Cavs Season Opening Meltdown

Oct 11, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson reacts during the first half against the Orlando Magic at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kenny Atkinson Responds After Cavs Season Opening Meltdown

Originally posted on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI
By Zach Weiss | Last updated Oct 23, 2026 8:36 PM ET

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The offseason for the Cavs was spent on a few things. Part of it was trying to get past the historic blown lead to the Knicks and the eventual ECF sweep.

It quickly turned to whether or not LeBron James was coming home.

He ultimately didn’t, and the next month was spent playing the waiting game.

Cleveland eventually landed Peyton Watson. And another two months later, they finally opened their season. It didn’t go so well, with the Sixers coming back from 29 down to defeat the Cavs in the City of Brotherly Love. No one player stood out above the others.

Kenny Atkinson spoke to the media after the blown lead, so let’s share some quotes.

Kenny Atkinson Discusses The Loss

It wasn’t pretty for the Cavs after halftime last night. The same issues seem to continue to plague the team, and it’s far from ideal. Here’s what Kenny Atkinson had to say about the blown lead:

“They upped their pressure and physicality. It was pretty clear. We did not handle it well...they punched us, and I felt like we resisted in the 3rd quarter...obviously, we gotta do a better job handling pressure; that's very clear. I'll take away that we were on the road, hostile crowd; we gave ourselves a chance despite what happened in the 2nd half”

Kenny Atkinson Postgame After Loss vs. 76ers:

"[0:00, Leading By 29 Points] They upped their pressure and physicality. It was pretty clear. We did not handle it well...they punched us, and I felt like we resisted in the 3rd quarter...obviously, we gotta do a better job handling… pic.twitter.com/QwrRIqhZpo
— Dylan (@dillybar2145__) October 23, 2026

It goes without saying that the team didn’t handle it well. The outlook coming into 2026-27 wasn’t good from the outside, but appeared to be rock-solid positive on the inside. Losing a game in a familiar fashion after five months off is never ideal. But this time, there are 81 more to play.

They can easily amend these things.

Kenny Atkinson On What Cavs Can Learn From The Game

Of course, this was a loss. There is no moral victory to take away. None of any kind, as there are probably quadruple the number of negatives as positives for Cleveland. To that extent, here’s what Kenny Atkinson said the team can learn from this one:

These are great experiences. This is how you build character, how you build resiliency, how you figure things out. I look at it as a positive; we've got a veteran team. We'll bounce back and get ready for Brooklyn. When you have to face adversity like tonight, that 2nd half was like a playoff game atmosphere. We did some great things in the first half and played Cavs basketball, but then they really imposed their will

The main thing to get from this is that Kenny is aware of the team’s shortcomings. They are not going to dwell on what already happened. His seat may certainly get hot if they do not start strong, but after only one game, there is nothing to panic about.

Trends start to form after a few weeks, so 21-28 days from now, if the team is still struggling to make the changes they have to, then well, press the panic button then. Not just yet.

This article first appeared on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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