Kenny Atkinson's furious tirade about the defense following the win over the Orlando Magic was answered with the Cleveland Cavaliers losing their next game. On the second night of a back-to-back, the Cavs dropped a disappointing 120-103 ball game to the Miami Heat. Despite that, Kenny Atkinson was calm and dialed back.
It was a massive difference from the man who sat at the podium on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, Atkinson complimented the process and the compete. The Cavaliers coach even sang the praises of Keon Ellis when prompted to.
"Love him. That was part of our defensive activity uptick. I felt like he was all over the place as usual."
There is an important connection to be made between those comments and a statement Atkinson had said on Tuesday that would lead one to believe Ellis is bound to be involved heavily in the Cavaliers' plans moving forward. This was what the Cavs coach uttered after the Magic game.
"I think when the playoffs come you always lean on that — who can guard their position, who's going to be a high-level defensive player in the playoffs. That's what gets you in the rotation."
Keon Ellis is quickly locking up a permanent spot in Cavaliers playoff rotation
Is this a classic game of connecting the dots? Absolutely. Sometimes that can be a dangerous practice. Putting two and two together here makes sense, though.
Ellis' selling point as a basketball player has always been his defense. It can feel like the two-way force is all over the court, all at once, when the defensive playmaker is out there.
His offense has always been the bigger question mark with his production. Thus far, it has been mostly fine in Cleveland. Ellis is averaging 8.0 points per game, shooting 48.7 percent from the field and 35.1 percent from beyond the arc.
With the offense more dependable than it has been during previous stretches of his career, Ellis is on a fast track to having both ends of the basketball court be the catalyst for the first playoff minutes of his career. Unsurprisingly, given it was the Sacramento Kings, that eluded him at his previous spot.
The Cavaliers have a lot of depth off the bench, and, in particular, on the wings. Among a stacked rotation, Ellis is clearly doing his part to separate himself from the pack. His head coach is not shy about letting everyone know that.