Kenny Atkinson gave the most bizarre comments after Cavaliers' choke job in Game 1

Kenny Atkinson sounded like a man who had accepted his losing fate on Tuesday after his Cleveland Cavaliers blew a late lead to the New York Knicks in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Cavaliers led by as many as 22 points midway through the fourth quarter of what was at that point a completely one-sided series opener at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, N.Y. The Knicks then proceeded to go on a 30-8 run in the final 7:39 of regulation to force overtime and eventually run away with a 115-104 win.

Cleveland called just one timeout during that entire stretch despite Atkinson having multiple in his pocket in the fourth quarter. He gave a puzzling response during his postgame press conference when asked about not calling any more timeouts.

“Yeah, I like to hold my timeouts,” Atkinson told reporters. “I didn’t want to have one timeout at the end of the game. One or two-point game, I try to hold them.”

Most coaches view timeouts as a tool to halt an opposing team’s momentum. Atkinson claimed he wanted to save them for close late-game situations his Cavaliers could have avoided had he settled his team down before it was too late. Several fans and media members felt that same way.