At times, Kenny Atkinson was able to experience enjoyable moments coaching the Brooklyn Nets, notably the surprising 2018-19 team that won 42 games and made the playoffs.
Over four years after his final game with the Nets, Atkinson is back on the sidelines running the Cleveland Cavaliers, and his second chance as a head coach is off to a perfect beginning.
Atkinson and the Cavaliers will attempt to make it 11 straight wins to start the season Saturday night when they host the Brooklyn Nets.
Atkinson took over the Nets as they began a rebuild in 2016 and lasted until March 7, 2020. After his time with the Nets, he spent one season as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers and three seasons assisting Steve Kerr with the Golden State Warriors.
Hired on June 28, after Cleveland lost a five-game Eastern Conference semifinal to the Boston Celtics, Atkinson is 10-0 with his new team, which includes former Nets Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert.
“10-0 is something. It’s kind of a magic number, right?” Atkinson said. “I was worried about tonight because the Warriors are champions. That surprised me, how ready we were, how hungry we were. 10-0 is really something for our team.”
Their latest win occurred while Donovan Mitchell finished with a season-low 12 points. Darius Garland led the Cavs with 27, Evan Mobley added 23, and Ty Jerome had 20 as the Cavaliers placed six scorers in double figures.
The Nets are on their fourth coach since Atkinson’s tenure and are off to a respectable start (4-5) in coach Jordi Fernandez’s first nine games. The Nets missed a chance to go over .500 when they took a 108-104 overtime loss at Boston on Friday.
Brooklyn scored the game’s first 12 points and held a two-point halftime lead but was doomed by shooting 5-for-24 (20.8 percent) in the fourth.
Cam Thomas led the Nets with 31 points. Dennis Schroder added 20 and Cameron Johnson finished with 18, but Brooklyn shot a season-low 41 percent and made only 10-of-38 3-point tries.
“I’m not really a fan of moral victories because I feel like the game was winnable for us. We led most of the game,” Thomas said after his fourth 30-point game this season. “They just had a few good possessions at the end, big-time shots. But at the end of the day, I feel like the game was winnable. It wasn’t like we were outmatched from start to finish.”
The Nets used Ben Simmons off the bench for the first time this season, but he will likely sit out in Cleveland since the team has been holding him out of both ends of a back-to-back following back surgery in March.
