With top seed in East secured, Atkinson wants to get some of Cavaliers’ top players some rest

Kenny Atkinson thought during training camp that realistic goals for the Cleveland Cavaliers would be 50 wins and a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers surpassed those goals awhile ago to the point where Atkinson is planning for a possible championship run.

Cleveland wrapped up the top seed in the East with its 135-113 victory over the Chicago Bulls. It is the fourth time in franchise history the Cavaliers will go into the playoffs with the conference’s best record. The last time was 2016, when the Cavaliers won their first NBA title and delivered Cleveland its first professional sports championship in 52 years.

“I think you celebrate these moments,” Atkinson said. “It’s hard to be the first seed. We all know that. We are hungry for more.”

Cleveland went 48-34 last season and advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals before losing to eventual NBA champion Boston in five games. The Cavaliers fired J.B. Bickerstaff at the end of the season and replaced him with Atkinson.

With a new coach in charge, Cleveland got off to a fast start, becoming the fourth team in NBA history to win at least its first 15 games. It is the third team in league history to have at least three steaks of 12 wins in a season, including a 16-game run from Feb. 3 to March 14.

The Cavs lost four straight though after their franchise-record win streak, but have rebounded to win seven of 10. At 63-16, they need to win their final three games to equal the franchise record for most victories in a season.

“I think we got out of the gate so quick and got ahead of it early. Then we had some ups and downs last month, but I’m proud of the guys,” Atkinson said.

Atkinson had some preliminary discussions with his coaching staff about the approach to take during the rest of the regular season once the top seed was secured, but those plans can ramp up with three games remaining until the playoffs.

Cleveland has road games against Indiana and New York on Thursday and Friday before hosting the Pacers on Sunday.

With the Cavaliers not likely to have their first playoff game until April 20, there is the fine balance between making sure players are peaking going into the postseason while also trying to get some rest with their seed locked in.

“I think there are various options on the table. It’s going to be a collaborative thing and the players are part of it,” Atkinson said. “What is their feel on rhythm? We can do intrasquad scrimmages to prepare. We can do a lot of things to get ready.”

Guard Ty Jerome noted though that the Cavaliers are in the same boat as a lot of teams going into the playoffs, with the extended rest before the first round starts.

“You use that week to get your body right, get an extra lift, and get some good practices in that we haven’t been able to have. Since the All-Star break you don’t really have time to practice much,” he said.

One player that Atkinson would like to rest the remainder of the regular season is Donovan Mitchell. The star guard missed Tuesday’s game due to a sprained left ankle he suffered during last Sunday’s loss to Sacramento.

Mitchell, who is averaging a team-leading 24 points, will have some input into the decision about the final three games, but Atkinson said he would prefer Mitchell rest up.

With Mitchell out of the lineup, Darius Garland broke out of his shooting slump with 28 points. The sixth-year guard was 34 of 90 from the field and 15 of 43 on 3-pointers in his last six games leading up to Tuesday, but was 10 of 17 and 6 of 10 from beyond the arc against the Bulls.

“It was good to see something go through the net. My teammates were on me to be myself. It was good to have one of these games for sure,” Garland said.

Garland also knows that expectations for the Cavaliers will be extremely high with earning the top seed.

“It’s different because we’re the hunted now. So we always have to play our best, it doesn’t matter who it is or who it’s against. So I think that turns us up a notch,” he said.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba