The New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-97 on Saturday in the teams’ first meeting since New York swept Cleveland in last season’s Eastern Conference Finals, and Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson used the night to clean up his most famous sound bite, as first reported by Bleacher Report.
Jalen Brunson scored 31 and Karl-Anthony Towns added 29 points and 13 rebounds. The Knicks moved to 5-4, while the Cavs fell to 5-5.
About That Comment
Quick refresher: after Game 3 of the 2026 East finals, with Cleveland down 3-0, Atkinson said that “analytically” his team had won two of the three games based on an expected-score metric. The internet ran with it, and the Knicks closed the series with a 130-93 win in Game 4. New York won the four games by a combined 77 points and went 16-3 in the playoffs.
On Saturday, Atkinson said people took a sound bite and ran with it. “I would just say there was no coach more complimentary of the Knicks and honest about our performance and how they dominated us,” he said, per The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.
The IAHHM Take
Fair or not, that quote is going to follow him. When you’re down 0-3, “analytically we won” is going to get clipped and memed, and Knicks fans will be bringing it up at the Garden for years.
Give Atkinson credit for owning that New York dominated. But the real answer is on the court, and Brunson and Towns just reminded Cleveland who’s in charge of this rivalry.
Are the Knicks the team to beat in the East again? Let us know.
Source: Bleacher Report
