What are they doing?! Once again the Cleveland Cavaliers blew a lead in a game they easily could have won.

Being up by 15 at the end of the first quarter, holding Atlanta to 16 points, the lowest total they have allowed in a quarter this season. To then follow it up by getting outscored 30-16 in the second quarter.

This was the fifth win in a row for the Hawks against the Cavs at State Farm Arena and they’ve won 11 of the last 13 meetings when the Cavs were on the road. 

Cleveland’s leading scorer was James Harden who ended the night with 24 points. Donovan Mitchell ended with 22 after drawing multiple fouls at the end of the night to keep it close.

Kenny Atkinson Called 1 Second Half Timeout

All season, Atkinson has been so bad at making changes during games. He brings the same energy that some have said about Cleveland Guardians manager Stephen Vogt, who some believe to make terrible in game decisions.

A running theme in Cleveland it seems to be. In the first half, he called 4 timeouts when the team was up in the game and then as they gave up the lead. How is he then determined to only call one in the second half.

Yes, the Cavs were still being competitive, but at one point Atlanta was playing so fast that a timeout should have been the right call.

Why No Timeout in the Final Seconds

Going furthermore into the lack of timeouts. At the end of the game, Cleveland got themselves into a good spot. Down 10 with 2 minutes left they got the game to within four points with 40 seconds to go.

Donovan Mitchell was then given two chances to tie the game down three in the final 15 seconds of the game. For some reason, no timeout was called to make a play, just giving the ball to Mitchell to make his own play did not work.

It has not worked in plenty of situations across his Cavs career. He garners the best defender on the court at the end of the game. Both Harden and Sam Merrill were hitting their shots better than Mitchell and should have gotten the ball in a play that was made up.

Completely Outpaced

At the end of the night, Cleveland got outworked in that second half by the Hawks. Atlanta got Peyton Watson into foul trouble early into the second half so he did not get a ton of time sitting at five fouls.

That was the same problem that the Cavs encountered last Thursday when they lost to Philly. They were able to play fast paced and quick basketball that blew up the entire Cleveland defense and got demolished on the glass.

Rookie Meleek Thomas seemed to help with that fast paced basketball, but he was out tonight and he was needed.

Next up for the Cavs is on Halloween when they face the Milwaukee Bucks.