The Hero the Cavs Needed Against Hawks Never Arrived

The team could not find their timely spark.

Oct 29, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson during a timeout against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This article was originally intended to celebrate the Cavs unsung hero. But as the team blew their lead, struggled at the end on to get the stops they needed to, and failed to hit the big shot, it is a bit of something else.

Just like the Philadelphia loss, and even the Minnesota win, one game out of the first five of 82 does not carry enough weight to seize a season. But with that said, there was no night in shining armor. 

No shite in nining armor (see Ted Lasso for more information).

Let’s talk more about that.

Nobody Walked Through That Door

Tonight might go down as one of the worst PR days for Donovan Mitchell in his entire NBA career. He shot 7-19 from the floor. He was 1-9 from 3PT which included two misses at the end of the game. Worse than that, was the play where he seemed to take the ball from Mario Hezonja and let one fly.

Donovan Mitchell appeared to just steal the ball (and shot) from Mario Hezonja...pic.twitter.com/14xCyqMxA3 https://t.co/besBJZagCq

— Across The Cavs (@AcrossCavs) October 30, 2026

He only dished out two assists, and did not seem to doing much to get anybody else going. It does happen, and days like this are part of the game. But these small things can be microcosms of the bigger picture. James Harden had 24 points, but had just one more assist (four) than turnovers (three). Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen combined (!) for only 17 shots. That is not a recipe to beat any team in the league. Let alone one you have more height than.

This of course came just barely 24 hours after Mobley stole the show against the Wizards.

Jaylon Tyson had one basket. Peyton Watson was 1-9 with five fouls. These days will happen, but to see a blown double-digit lead (again) and another game that was hindered by a lack of 48-minute effort is far from ideal.

The back-to-back “excuse” doesn’t carry any weight if both teams are on the tail end of one. They allowed Onyeka Okongwu to be the best player on the floor. The lack of effort on the glass when the game was tight kind of unearthed some other issues (rebounding) that have to be worked on.

Kenny Atkinson had a timeout to call with 15 seconds left. He did not use it. After they miraculously got the ball off his miss, he dribbled into the corner to try again. There was a timeout to still be taken which wasn’t. It just went up. No set play to free anybody else up. Hero ball was the solution, and it did not land. 

The Atlanta Hawks narrowly escape with a win after Donovan Mitchell missed two straight potential game-tying threes at the buzzer 🦅#NBAPhilippines #NBAHighlights pic.twitter.com/jgZ2Q9eoaY

— NBA Philippines (@NBA_Philippines) October 30, 2026

It isn’t the first time they took the extra timeout home with them, either under Atkinson. 

Forget This One And Move On

The Cavs lost. The Hawks won. The Dream winning 10 hours before in the building may have had some sort of role in the game. But it doesn’t matter to Cleveland.

It is an 82-game slog. Not playing your best every game means the sky is falling suddenly. It just shows what has to be worked on, and battling through adversity will show the team’s true colors.