Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson has a direct message for Cleveland heading into Game 4

Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson has a direct message for Cleveland heading into Game 4 originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Down 2-1 to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Cleveland Cavaliers need something to shift. After a Game 3 victory on Saturday that kept the series alive, head coach Kenny Atkinson addressed the media on Sunday and laid out what this team has to do as the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 4 on Monday.

Asked what the mindset was like heading into the game, Atkinson told reporters, per Camryn Justice of WEWS News 5:

"I think, you know, just looking at kind of what they're saying, and it's like, uh, you know, I think they still feel like they have control of the series... Win Game 4 to really make them a little more aware of our threat. We got to go there at this point. Right now, I think they still feel very confident. I get it, I totally get it. But we have to put more doubt. Starts with getting this one tomorrow."

Cleveland needs one win to level the series and shift the entire conversation

Atkinson acknowledged that much after Game 2, telling reporters the team has fallen behind by double digits in seven of its last eight games, a pattern the staff has not yet solved.

"We got to look at everything," he said. "Everything's on the table."