Cavaliers don't have to look far to find cause of playoff failures

For the second round in a row, the Cleveland Cavaliers are sitting 0-2 against a beatable playoff opponent. In a 109-93 embarrassment, the New York Knicks demonstrated the weakest version of the Cavaliers.

The game started well. Cleveland's star big man Evan Mobley knocked down two three-pointers and slammed a reverse baseline dunk over Knicks' center Mitchell Robinson. New York kept the game close, but the Cavs kept Jalen Brunson to two points in the first quarter and were seeing an aggressive, ready-to-win Mobley.

At halftime, the home team held a four-point lead. The Cavaliers were trailing, but they held momentum and looked poised to steal a game on the road to tie up the series. Instead, a second-half meltdown reminded the Madison Square Garden crowd why the Knicks are favorites to win the series.

Cleveland's offensive approach fell apart and struggled to find any foothold after the half. The Cavs' bench tallied four total points on the night, shooting a total of 2-of-16 from the field. Sam Merrill, Cleveland's go-to sharpshooter, hit none of his six three-point attempts. Max Strus only attempted one three in the game, hardly included in the offense and only playing 13:32 off the bench.

No Cavalier was excluded from the blame. Merrill has been a notably poor performer throughout most the playoffs. Dean Wade's defensive prowess cannot balance out his nonexistent offense. James Harden is still being left on an island against Brunson. The Cavs' defensive communication seemed to have connectivity issues like a phone call in a mountain-side tunnel.

Fingers can be pointed in any number of directions. Ultimately, though, blame falls heavily onto the mastermind behind all of Cleveland's inconsistent and unreliable gameplans.

Kenny Atkinson is failing the Cavaliers

Looking back to Game One, the Cavaliers' 22-point lead meltdown stings even worse after the second consecutive loss. Cleveland had a golden opportunity to steal the series and enter game three with the advantage. Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson did seemingly everything in his power to lose game one, and his adjustments between games did nothing to address the fourth-quarter breakdown.

In both Game Sevens in the playoffs, the Cavs' path to victory was through an inside-out offense. The guards fed the bigs on rolling actions and forced the defenses to collapse and allow easy off-ball action for open threes and lanes to the hoop. Atkinson has yet to deploy his winningest strategy until his back is against the wall.

The answer is not hidden. Phoenix Suns legend and NBA commentator Charles Barkley made the case for playing through the post in plain English.

Mobley's opening eight points to Game Two were followed by just five more shot attempts all night. He finished the first half with five-of-eight shooting, totaling 14 points. He did not attempt another field goal for the rest of the game. He was Cleveland's leading scorer in the first half, and Atkinson never ran a plan to get him into a scoring groove again.

The Cavaliers are at their best when Mobley is engaged on offense, put into winning positions and allowed to punish defenders. His confident scoring was the catalyst to give the Cavs an early advantage in Game Two, and yet Atkinson never kept him involved after the fact.

Max Strus showed little ability to penetrate the defense as an on-ball creator, rarely given the ball outside of catch-and-shoot attempts. If the Cavaliers hope to hold onto life against the Knicks at home, Strus needs to be a part of the gameplan.

Atkinson has been hesitant to make timeouts to halt New York's momentum shifts, although that same strategy had worked countless times for the Toronto Raptors in the first round. Atkinson's in-game adjustments have been the greatest asset in the Knicks' arsenal through the first two games. While the Cavs' coaches have utilized analytics to great success, it has also prevented them from recognizing the moment and making the right decisions in an instant.

The analytics tell the Cavaliers that playing through Mobley and Allen opens up the game for the rest of the team. Apparently, that statistic is the one missing from Atkinson's reports. Maybe a new coach in Cleveland would see it.

Truthfully, the Cleveland Cavaliers will not survive another 0-2 deficit with the pitiful game planning and adjustments currently being deployed. Mobley and Allen cannot be treated as forgotten nobodies. Atkinson has been nothing short of abysmal and is undoubtedly the reason the Cavaliers are falling apart in front of the national crowd.

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