Kenny Atkinson and Max Strus's coaching were key in Cavs win over Hornets
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For the longest time, defense has been the Cleveland Cavaliers’ identity. Without their defense, Cleveland wouldn’t be where they are right now. When new head coach Kenny Atkinson took the job, the defense was the one thing he didn’t want the Cavs to change. However, in Cleveland’s undefeated start to the season, their defense has sometimes been lacking. Atkinson has called out his team’s defensive effort. Against the Charlotte Hornets, the message was the same. If the Cavs didn’t clean up their sometimes lackadaisical defense, their unbeaten start to the year would end sooner than expected.
"I felt like tonight, I felt it like, 'Is this the one? Is this going to be the one that knocks us out?' There's an extra tension on the bench. It's almost like playoff-like," Atkinson said. "We don't want to lose here in front of our fans. I don't want to lose to Charlotte. I definitely felt that."
What adjustment did the Cavs make to beat the Hornets?
While it might seem simple enough, Cleveland switched from playing man-to-man defense to a zone-based scheme. The Cavs used the zone for 85% of the fourth quarter, limiting the Hornets to just 15 points on 6-of-21 shooting, which helped Cleveland secure its 15th straight win. The game-changing adjustment, however, didn't come from something Atkinson schemed up. Instead, it came from an unexpected source: sharpshooter Max Strus.
"Coach Max Strus," Cavs guard Darius Garland said postgame. "We're still learning from him, even though he's on the sideline, he's still preaching about the zone.
"The two-three definitely slowed them down from all their driving opportunities and just getting us in rotation a lot. So, I'll definitely put it on the zone for sure. Saving us."\
Strus was one of Cleveland's most impactful players last year. While a nagging ankle injury has kept him sidelined this season, it hasn’t stopped Strus from remaining impactful. During practice, Strus took charge of a drill, directing rotations and explaining how to neutralize driving lanes. The buy-in was immediate. Cavs big man Jarrett Allen, who anchors the zone in the paint, credited Strus' insights with sparking their defensive resurgence.
"It's an excellent scheme about how we guard the zone," Allen said. "Shout out to Max. He kind of put the zone in. He was a coach for a day telling us where to be and how to guard certain things, and just our energy in the zone. We communicate well. We know when to box out. We know that if Evan goes, I have his back. It's just a good tandem of movement that works well together."
How Kenny Atkinson embraced Max Strus’s coaching
Strus stepping in and helping scheme Cleveland’s defense wasn’t a slight at Atkinson. In fact, Atkinson has historically used zone defenses. While coaching the Brooklyn Nets, they ranked second in zone usage under Atkinson. Instead, it’s how Atkinson wants to run the Cavs, ensuring that everyone has an opportunity to speak their truth and provide input and insight that might be unseen.
"I've always believed in it," Atkinson said of the zone defense. “The NFL does it all the time, right? The quarterback, they're going to see zone, and they're going to see man. I just always believed that especially when Charlotte was going as they were going. If we stayed in our same coverage, I don't know if we win that game, quite honestly.
"We could not stop them in man-to-man. You're just at the point like, we gotta do something different. We tried a couple of different man-to-man coverages, including regular coverage, and then we tried to switch everything. That didn't work. So, the zone, we just threw that out there, and we just stuck with it, and it changed the game."
Going to a zone-based scheme saved the Cavs against the Hornets. It’s given Cleveland a new defensive wrinkle to lean on – especially if Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro miss time due to injury. But in a season defined by adaptability and trust, the Cavs are leaning on everyone, even if it means a player steps in as a coach.
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