You already answered it yourself and you are absolutely correct. If you look around on google scholar you will find more information especially on protein deficite and recovery.

Also i assume that you`ve eaten a calorie surplus up until now to retain as much muscle mass as possible - If you start reducing calorie intake now without restarting resistance training you are sure to lose more muscle in the end than you would have if you had just tried to meet your energy need and not overeat to begin with.

just my op