Kenny Atkinson or J.B. Bickerstaff? Whoever loses Cavs-Pistons series faces a long summer

DETROIT — He didn’t want to talk about it before the game and it’s easy to see why. There’s no reason to reveal strategy or give the enemy any motivation at this point. But make no mistake: This series means more to Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff than he’s willing to concede.

The Cavs very clearly believed Bickerstaff was the problem when they fired him two years ago, following a second-round postseason exit, and returned the rest of the roster intact. It’s no secret that Bickerstaff lost the locker room in Cleveland. The players wanted him gone. Yet when he was asked before the game if this series meant more to him, given how everything ended in Cleveland, he offered only, “No. No, we don’t do that here.”

Who could’ve imagined that two short years after dismissing Bickerstaff, the Cavs would have to see him again so quickly in the postseason? Bickerstaff’s turnaround with the Pistons has been remarkable in its speed and efficiency.

When Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff was asked if he could draw on his time coaching the Cavs to pull together a plan, Bickerstaff offered a simple “Yes.” (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

The Cavs, meanwhile, still haven’t been past the second round, and now here we are, back in the conference semifinals, with all of the old friends reunited. The irony.

One of these coaches, either Bickerstaff or Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson, is going to have a miserable summer when this is over. Bickerstaff landed the first jab with a 111-101 Game 1 victory by guiding the Pistons to the same brand of physical, defensive basketball he once brought to Cleveland when he took over in 2020.

Jarrett Allen spoke after the Cavs eliminated the Toronto Raptors about the difficulty in shedding labels. Well, Bickerstaff has a label, too: the franchise healer, the resurrector who is great at sweeping out the ashes but maybe not the right coach to win a championship.

He did it in Cleveland when he took over for John Beilein and brought an identity to the Cavaliers, and he did it in Detroit when he cleaned up the mess left by Monty Williams. Beating his old team in this series and advancing to the conference finals would be a tremendous step toward changing Bickerstaff’s identity as the coach who can’t win the big games.

The Pistons took Game 1 primarily because they forced 20 turnovers and converted them into 31 points. James Harden had seven of them in another lousy performance from an aging superstar who for years has been scratching at his own label as a poor playoff performer.

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Pistons outmuscle Cavaliers, score 31 points off of turnovers in Game 1 win

The Pistons beat the Cavs with fundamentals: they forced turnovers, grabbed offensive boards and made it to the free throw line.

Prep work for this series was limited because both teams were pushed to seven games in the first round. The Pistons and Cavs were back on the court at Little Caesars Arena less than 48 hours after advancing. If there is an advantage on either side for the quick turnaround, it belongs to Bickerstaff, who knows this roster extremely well. Harden may have just arrived in Cleveland a few months ago, but Bickerstaff coached him in Houston a decade ago. He has intimate knowledge of all of the Cavs’ key figures.

Bickerstaff is one of the best talkers in the league. He is great at explaining answers in great detail, but not right now. When asked if he could draw on his time with the Cavs to pull together a plan, Bickerstaff offered a simple “Yes.”

No explanation necessary.

Part of the reason Atkinson is here and Bickerstaff is there is because of Evan Mobley. He never quite blossomed into the offensive player he was long expected to become. Atkinson, to his credit, has gotten more out of Mobley offensively the last couple of seasons than Bickerstaff did. The Cavs have spaced the floor better with two bigs in Mobley and Allen under Atkinson. Mobley’s emergence was a big reason why the Cavs won 64 games last season and why they escaped the Raptors in the first round.

Mobley was terrific for most of the Toronto series and has shown flashes the last couple of years of finally becoming the complete, dominant player at both ends of the court that he has had the potential to become. But he vanished again in the fourth quarter Tuesday, going scoreless and grabbing two rebounds in eight fairly empty minutes. He was a minus-18 for the night, easily the worst plus-minus of anyone on the team. The Cavs dug all the way out of their early 18-point deficit to tie the score with five minutes remaining, but Mobley had little to do with it.

If the Cavs are going to advance beyond this round, they’ll need fewer turnovers from Harden and more interior presence from Mobley. In 88 combined minutes Tuesday, Mobley, Allen and Donovan Mitchell combined to shoot just two free throws. Mitchell shot them both. It’s almost inexplicable and can’t happen again.

Mitchell said he recognized some of the coverages Bickerstaff used on him, particularly with Detroit defensive stopper Ausar Thompson. Mitchell likened it to how Bickerstaff used Isaac Okoro with the Cavaliers a few years ago.

One game doesn’t make a series, and the Cavs should be able to draw from knowing they can’t possibly play much worse than they did in Game 1 and still had it tied, on the road, with five minutes left.

Some of Atkinson’s rotations were awkward because of Allen’s early foul trouble and the fact Atkinson was cognizant of playing a Game 7 just a couple of days earlier and was concerned about fatigue. This series’ cadence is every other day. Tired or not, it’s time to go.

The Pistons played with more force. They were more aggressive and certainly played with more energy. Harden believed a number of his turnovers were careless. All of that should be correctable.

For now, the old coach who resurrected the Pistons faster than anyone thought possible is trying to shed another label: That he was the problem in Cleveland.