Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson may not have learned from his mistakes, and his reluctance to make adjustments might cost him the season -- and his job. It certainly cost them a comeback win in Game 6.
Once again, Atkinson had Dennis Schroder on the floor in crunch time, and it didn't work out well. Schroder has been one of the worst teams in the league for nearly two months now, and even though he's a proven veteran who might wake up any time, there's no more margin for error.
The Cavs will be playing for their season on Sunday, and if Schroder continues to drop the ball, perhaps it's time Atkinson finally gives Tyrese Proctor and/or Craig Porter Jr. an opportunity to show what they can do.
Kenny Atkinson needs to trust his backup point guards
Schroder has been unplayable; there's just no way to sugar-coat it. However, Porter -- who played 64 games for the Cavs in the regular season and is fully healthy -- has yet to log a single minute since two quick cameos in Games 1 and 3. Proctor, on the other hand, took the floor for a grand total of 2:38 minutes in Game 3.
Granted, all teams shrink their rotations in the playoffs, but doing the same over and over and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. This team clearly needs an offensive catalyst in the second unit, and Proctor might actually be the best shooter on the team. It certainly can't hurt to give him a try.
As for Porter, Atkinson has never given him much of a leash, but it's hard to believe he can be any more erratic than Schroder. He's a 35 percent shooter from beyond the arc, and the Raptors may not have much tape or intel on him in their scouting report.
Of course, expecting the role players to get the job done isn't an ideal position, especially for a team featuring a future first-ballot Hall of Famer like James Harden and a borderline All-NBA guy like Donovan Mitchell. They should be leading the way, but clearly, that hasn't been the case, either.
Even if Atkinson doesn't want to trust a rookie or a backup point guard with heavy minutes, Schroder just has to go. It might be one of those addition by subtraction cases, as he's had a negative box-plus-minus in four of six games of the series. He was a +/- 0 in another one and +8 in the other, per Basketball Reference.
The playoffs are all about momentum and making the necessary adjustments. Schroder isn't to blame for all of the team's issues, but he's definitely not helping, and it's about time the coach does something to get the ship back on track. They can't be much worse.
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