STORYI heard that after a team meeting with his coach, Kenny Atkinson realized that his days with the Nets were numbered.

The players passionately expressed their problems in the post-game locker room meeting, and Kevin Durant, who did not play that season, began to vocally criticize the team’s situation. Keep in mind that the Nets are overachieving, at least in my opinion, as their best team is still competing for the postseason despite regular DNPs. But Atkinson had yet to connect well with Durant or Kyrie Irving — which was difficult since neither was ready — and he judged he didn’t have time to figure that out before the ax fell.

Atkinson told Nets president Sean Marks this, and I put it this way: “If you’re going to fire me at the end of the season, do it now.”

Marx had to. And no one emerged from the Brooklyn disaster looking better than Atkinson.

Now that’s Tom Thibodeau’s problem to solve.

Long Island product and Linsanity engineer Atkinson is the overlooked and underappreciated upgrade of the offseason as the Cavaliers’ new coach. He returned to New York on Monday and left the Garden still undefeated with a 110-104 victoryThis reiterated Cleveland’s status as the top threat to deny the Knicks big goals this season.

The turning point Monday was the third quarter, when the Knicks were in control and Jalen Brunson suffered a leg injury. It wasn’t too serious – Brunson returned in the fourth quarter – but his five minutes on the bench corresponded with the home team’s 11-point advantage being wiped out.

No matter how much talent the Knicks boast in their starting lineup (no matter how much offensive muscle they get from newcomers), they still need their star point guard.

Under similar circumstances, the outcome was different in Cleveland last season; where Brunson was injured early in the first quarter and the supporting cast negated one of the Knicks’ most impressive victories.

But these aren’t last season’s Cavs. They are not the Cavs of two years ago, when the Knicks beat them in the playoffs.

They’re older, less predictable offensively, moved in the paint on Monday as if they weren’t afraid of Karl-Anthony Towns, and most importantly, they’ve improved their offensive coaching skills.

“You feel Atkinson’s presence and you see that in the group,” Cavs star Donovan Mitchell said before listing several new additions to the team’s offense. “Just an offensive move. You can already tell it’s different.

Added Darius Garland: “I think (Atkinson’s) been really good for us. He’s got a super offensive mentality. He’s pretty good on the defensive side of the ball. So adding some offense to our repertoire is a must. He gives us a lot of freedom, just a lot for us to be able to shoot the rim.” It gives space.”

Atkinson waited for the right opportunity after the Nets’ dismissal, serving as an assistant with the Warriors and Clippers and turning down an offer to become the Hornets’ head coach.

In retrospect, Atkinson believes being fired made him better.

Atkinson, who worked most with Jeremy Lin and was an assistant for the Knicks in 2012, said, “This changed me.” “You know, I’m not a completely different coach than I was in Brooklyn, but I learned a lot.

“Obviously, being a part of a championship team with the Warriors… guys who have done it at the highest level. And maybe even more important than that, being around guys who have done it at the highest level. So Steph (Curry), Draymond (Green), Klay (Thompson) ), Paul George, Kawhi (Leonard). You learn so much from these guys… it’s funny the way things are going, ‘Oh man, what am I going to do?’ And then it turned out that that was actually what I needed, more exposure to Championship cultures.”

The Cavs are built on continuity, except for Atkinson.

Six of the seven players who played at least 50 minutes in a loss to the Knicks in the 2023 playoff series were ready for Monday’s game at MSG.

Of the nine Knicks who played at least 50 minutes in this series, only two (Josh Hart and Brunson) played on Monday. There is quite a difference between staff retention and turnover. But the Cavs also pulled off the most underrated maneuver of the summer.

Same players, different coach.

Against the Knicks, who faced a better opponent and a better coach, they achieved a different result than they remembered from the last two years.