Kenny Atkinson was unhappy with the Cavaliers' lack of energy against the Pistons

The Cleveland Cavaliers are now down 1-0 against the Detroit Pistons. It was a competitive game between the two teams, but it seems the Cavaliers were not playing at their best level, according to head coach Kenny Atkinson.

In the later games of the series against the Toronto Raptors, the Cavaliers were playing with intense energy. They had to match the Raptors' physicality and willingness to improve the energy, but it seems they have to reset once again for this series.

Kenny Atkinson was not a fan of the Cavaliers' energy level in Game 1

As a team that has tons of potential, the Cavaliers are always an interesting team to look at. They have the talent with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, and more. However, they lacked a bit of energy and urgency during their Game 1 matchup against the Pistons.

It looked like they were a bit tired, which could be a good excuse for most matchups. However, the Pistons played a Game 7 on the same day as Cleveland, so they both had limited rest ahead of this series.

MORE: The schedule for the rest of the Cavaliers vs Pistons series

Playing with a lack of energy in the Eastern Conference Semifinals should not happen, which is why Atkinson is getting ahead of the problem before it gets worse as the series progresses.

"First half was overall, they were more forceful. Much better in the second half, but the energy on a scale of 1 to 10, energy they were at a 9.5, and we were at a 7. That's tough to win on the road with that kind of disparity," Atkinson said about what happened with the Cavaliers.

Moving forward, the Cavaliers must be locked in because they are losing out on winnable games. The Pistons did not look at their best, so the Cavaliers must close the gap and steal the home-court advantage with a Game 2 win.

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