INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — The Cleveland Cavaliers are set to take the court on Monday for Game 4 of their Eastern Conference Finals series with the New York Knicks. Down 3-0 in the series after Saturday night's loss inside Rocket Arena, it's a tough task. In fact, what the Cavs hope to do has never been done. Yet, despite the odds stacked against them, the team is full of belief.
During Sunday's film session at Cleveland Clinic Courts, as the team was going over what went wrong in their Game 3 upset at home, head coach Kenny Atkinson posed a question to the team.
"I asked them, ‘Why do we believe?’ I had like eight great answers. I said, ‘Well, that makes me believe more because you guys really, really believe in yourself.’ Each guy had like a different reason or two," Atkinson said.
There were a number of reasons shared around the room.
"That we've played, we've had success against them in the past. We beat them four times last year, a similar group, right? We've had up 20 in Game 1, right? Our shots aren't going in right now. I think that's part of it. All of a sudden, you start making them, stuff turns. Because I told them, I said, ‘I don't want any fluff. No fluff. Give me real reasons.’ Just a bunch of stuff like that, which I thought was like, wow, that's real," Atkinson said.
The shots not falling have been the story for the Cavs in this series with the Knicks. One player who knows that all too well is guard Sam Merrill.
Merrill had a particularly tough night in Game 2 in New York, shooting 1-for-8 from the field, 0-for-7 from three. It was uncharacteristic of the usual reliable off-the-bench shotmaker.
"Sometimes you just have those games where, honestly, most of the shots I took felt like they were going in and they didn't. So it sucks that it happens in an Eastern Conference Finals game, but sometimes you just have nights where it feels good and you get unlucky. And overall, I felt super confident in my shot and felt like I've been in a pretty good rhythm, especially the last whatever, five or six games. And again, sometimes they don't go in and that sucks, but I trust in the shooter that I am and the looks that I'm getting and made a couple last night and hopefully some more tomorrow night," Merrill said.
That confidence is important for this team. It's where the belief originates from.
"You've got to have full belief in what we're capable of. We know we can. Just got to find a way to go do it tomorrow," Merrill said.
There have been 161 teams in NBA playoff history that have gone down 3-0 in a series. Of those teams, none have been able to come back and win the best-of-seven. Some have gotten close, yes. But none have ever succeeded. The Cavs aren't looking at those numbers right now. They are simply looking to win one game at a time, starting Monday in Game 4 as they hope to stay alive in the series.
But the ultimate goal still stands. To make history, force a Game 7 and then advance to the 2026 NBA Finals.
Atkinson said his team truly believes that to be possible, no matter the odds.
"They do believe. And they're probably not steeped in the stats that you guys all know, how hard this is. I don't think they care about that. They believe in the group. They believe in each other. They believe we've had really good stretches against this team," Atkinson said. "There was no one in there that gave, ‘Well, this is a reason why we can't do it. We can't win the next game.’ It was more about the next game. I didn't go to, ‘Hey, we can get these guys in seven.’ None of that. I believe in microtasks. It's like just get this one, and then we figure it out after that.”
So as they prepare to take the court inside Rocket Arena for Game 4, full of belief, they don't have to look hard to find motivation to win.
"I would use one word. I would say just 'pride. Pride," said swingman Jaylon Tyson. "We're at home. We don't lose at home. We should take pride in that. And these dudes, I mean, call a spade a spade, they're [going to] come in here and try to sweep us. And me, personally, I don't take that lightly. So whether I'm playing five minutes, 15, whatever it is, I'm going to put my best foot forward and I know my teammates are going to put their best foot forward and try not to let that happen because I think that's just a pride thing."
As Atkinson said, it's all about taking it one game at a time and that starts Monday in their Game 4 tip-off at 8 p.m.
