The Cleveland Cavaliers went 64-18 in the regular season. They were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, Kenny Atkinson won the Coach of the Year Award and Evan Mobley won the Defensive Player of the Year Award.
After sweeping the Miami Heat in the first round of the 2025 playoffs, it appeared the Cavaliers were primed to make a deep run in the postseason. However, Cleveland lost to the Indiana Pacers in the conference semifinals in five games.
Not only did the Cavaliers get bounced by the Pacers, but Indiana also won Games 1, 2 and 5 in Cleveland.
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson
© David Richard-Imagn Images
Losing to the Pacers hit Atkinson hard, so much so that he has made the film room his second home, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Atkinson has watched the Cavaliers-Pacers series several times so he can figure out what exactly went wrong for his team.
"Sources tell cleveland.com that Atkinson has made the film room his second home in the aftermath of Cleveland’s latest postseason flameout," Fedor wrote. "He has rewatched the series numerous times, trying to figure out what went wrong and coming up with internal solutions."
The Cavaliers haven't advanced past the second round of the playoffs since 2018, the last year LeBron James was on the team.
Cleveland made four straight NBA Finals in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Cleveland president of basketball operations Koby Altman told local reporters on Monday that major changes to the roster likely won't take place this summer, which means Donovan Mitchell, Mobley, Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen will be Atkinson's core group again.