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Cavs must find balance to achieve improved conditioning needed for NBA playoffs | Opinion
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- Cavs must find balance to achieve improved conditioning needed for NBA playoffs | Opinion
CLEVELAND — Cavaliers second-year coach Kenny Atkinson embarked on a "relationship-building tour" to strengthen bonds with players in the offseason.
Atkinson , though, will also need to be in lockstep with the franchise's sports science staff because the Cavs must strike a delicate balance between injury prevention and conditioning throughout the 2025-26 NBA season.
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Before last season, Atkinson listed health as the team's top priority. He remained consistent with the message leading up to the playoffs this past spring.
But there's a new twist this year on the conversation about load management in Cleveland, which wrapped up the preseason with a 118-100 win over the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 14 at Rocket Arena. The Cavs are scheduled to open the regular season on Oct. 22 at the New York Knicks .
Playoff loss to Indiana Pacers led Cleveland Cavs to land on an area of focus in offseason
The Cavs were essentially run off the floor by the Indiana Pacers in May, falling 4-1 in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinals.
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Being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs provided a wake-up call, especially after the Cavs had earned the East's No. 1 seed with a 64-18 record in the 2024-25 regular season.
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Among the questions Atkinson and Co. were left asking: How can the Cavs be better conditioned and healthier when the playoffs arrive?
The Cavs failed to physically keep up with the Pacers. Cleveland experienced trouble with Indiana's full-court pressure, force and pace.
Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland answers questions from the media during Cleveland Cavaliers Media Day at Rocket Arena on Sept. 29, 2025, in Cleveland.
The Cavs dealt with injuries, too, like Darius Garland 's sprained big toe, Donovan Mitchell 's sprained ankle and strained calf, Evan Mobley 's sprained ankle and De'Andre Hunter's dislocated thumb.
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Garland is still recovering from offseason surgery on the toe, and one of the most notable injuries in the NBA continues to hang over the Pacers. They ruled out Tyrese Haliburton for the entire 2025-26 season after he suffered a torn Achilles tendon in Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder .
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Although the 2025-26 Pacers won't be the threat they would have been with Haliburton, they're not going to abandon their relentless style. And watch out for other teams, like the Boston Celtics sans Jayson Tatum , who's also sidelined after suffering a torn Achilles but hasn't been ruled out for the season, attempting to steal a page from the book of Pacers coach Rick Carlisle.
The Pacers didn't overpower or manhandle opponents. Instead, they embodied a different type of toughness by often running other teams ragged.
Indiana Pacers forward Aaron Nesmith (23) celebrates after making a 3-pointer against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game 1 of a second-round NBA playoff series May 4, 2025, in Cleveland, Ohio.
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In 23 playoff games, Pacers players combined to run 444 miles, the most since Second Spectrum began tracking the statistic in 2013, according to The Athletic . Indiana's offense took just 6.1 seconds to get into its first actions during the playoffs, leading all teams, according to Second Spectrum.
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Styles make fights, and the Cavs must be prepared for this type of battle. The Pacers won't be the only ones aiming to leave their foes gassed, forcing them to submit the way the Cavs did in the 2025 playoffs much earlier than anyone expected.
Whether the Cavs prove to be effective in using the upcoming regular season to enhance the team's collective level of conditioning will be crucial. Achieving the goal without increasing soft-tissue injuries is the sweet spot the organization seeks. Remember, Mitchell has ended the past two postseasons with calf issues, and no one associated with the Cavs wants those problems to resurface or worsen.
Make no mistake about this: The Cavs are going to continue to rest their top players. But how much, when and what happens behind the scenes may be tweaked with conditioning in mind. It ought to be.
Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson reacts during Game 2 of a first-round 2025 NBA playoff series against the Miami Heat on April 23, 2025, in Cleveland.
Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson has been a proponent of sports science for years
Atkinson bought into sports science during his tenure as a New York Knicks assistant coach (2008-12). He is as close with Cleveland's sports science people as he is with his Cavs coaching staff.
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"They can simplify data for you. They keep an eye on the league trends," said Atkinson, who won NBA Coach of the Year last season. "They give feedback, practice feedback. They determine the loads for each practice. They determine individual loads.
"Pretty much anything I ask in terms of physical output, they can give me, whether it's a practice situation or game now with all the data we're getting — intensity level, accelerations, decelerations, distance run, whatever we're kind of looking for. And it's a lot. So, we need people that can simplify that message for us. They play a huge role."
Perhaps now more than ever. Expectations are high at all levels of the franchise.
Cleveland Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson after the Cavs' preseason finale against the Detroit Pistons on Oct. 14, 2025, at Rocket Arena. Cleveland won 118-100.
Cleveland Cavaliers soak coach after first preseason win under Kenny Atkinson
The Cavs went 0-4 in the preseason last year and didn't record their first exhibition win of the Atkinson era until they beat the Pistons. Atkinson had made it known he wanted a preseason victory, so Cavs players drenched him afterward as if they were in a champagne-fueled locker room celebration.
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"It's just water," Atkinson clarified.
The Cavs want the real deal next June. They believe they're among the teams capable of throwing a party when the playoffs end.
But will they have the requisite combination of conditioning and health?
Those won't be the only factors, yet they will be important ones.
Nate Ulrich is the sports columnist of the Akron Beacon Journal and a sports features writer. Nate can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com . On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cavs' conditioning under microscope after playoff loss to Pacers
