Kenny Atkinson defends keeping timeouts as Cavaliers folded - ESPN

NEW YORK — Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson defended holding on to his timeouts down the stretch of the fourth quarter Tuesday night, even as his team was blowing a 22-point lead inside the final eight minutes of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

The New York Knicks finished the fourth quarter on a 30-8 run to erase Cleveland's advantage and force overtime before closing out a 115-104 victory, but Atkinson only called one timeout during New York's furious comeback. He finished the fourth quarter with two timeouts remaining.

«I like to hold my timeouts,» Atkinson said after the game. «I didn't want to have one timeout at the end of the game, one- or two-point game. I tried to hold them.»

Cleveland led 93-71 with 7:50 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Knicks closed the game on a 44-11 run, including overtime.

«They hit some really tough shots in that fourth quarter,» Atkinson said. «We got a little unlucky, quite honestly.

»My only regret, and this can happen when you get a little fatigued, I think it just stopped moving. We were pinging the ball all over the place, great ball movement, and then it just got a little stagnant."

During the Knicks' closing stretch, Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, Cleveland's star backcourt, combined to shoot 1-for-10 from the field (0-for-5 from 3) for three points with two turnovers.

Mitchell finished with 29 points but did not score in overtime and converted his final field goal with 8:19 remaining in the fourth quarter. He denied dealing with any injury, but he said he wanted to review the film to better understand his lack of involvement down the stretch.

«I don't think it's anything to overreact to,» Harden said. «Like I've always said, it's a feel thing. Go