It’s evident that the Cleveland Cavaliers are in a rut, which is understandable with NBA teams around the All-Star break. They need to buckle down and fight through this midseason slump, and LeBron James must lead the way.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have seemed to hit a minor road bump so far in the calendar year of 2017. As everyone always says, you will have these kinds of stretches in an 82-game season. I get that, and there’s no reason to overreact here in January. Nonetheless, problems aren’t going to just fix themselves.
The Cavaliers are just 6-7 in 2017, and it’s probably not a big deal long-term. They didn’t have much practice time, if at all, on their six-game road trip, so that didn’t help their cause this month. That said, it’s been the way they’ve been losing that is concerning to the naked eye.
Since the start of 2017, the Cavs have had their share of issues on the defensive end of the floor. They have really struggled with individual defense, which has caused teammates to overcompensate at times. Opponents have been wide-open too many times for easy looks as a result of over helping.
They have given up an average of over 109 points per game this month, which is far from good enough. Lapses such as this one from Kyle Korver on an unneeded rotation are ways you lose games to teams like the Sacramento Kings at home.
When you can’t rely on your defense in key moments of games, it causes your players to press unnecessarily. That has been the case as of late, and it’s caused both key options and role players to force plays that are simply not there. Not to single out Korver again here but he did have a terrible turnover on what was the final worthy possession of the game for Cleveland with 6.7 seconds left in overtime.
They are still figuring this rotation out with Korver, and they will eventually. Nonetheless, they have lost six of eight with Korver on the roster so far, in large part because of defensive issues and unnecessary turnovers.
In total, the Cavs had 18 turnovers Wednesday night against Sacramento, compared to the Kings having just 11. Between LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, there were 12 of the 18 turnovers. These three make up the majority of the offense, so when they have this many turnovers, it leads to points at the other end of the floor. LeBron has really struggled with crucial giveaways in recent games, and we’re just not used to seeing that lack of focus from The King. On a late possession against the New Orleans Pelicans, his giveaway essentially closed the door on a Cavs comeback.
The turnovers will come at times, you just can’t keep pressing in crucial situations against NBA teams. The last two games are probably nothing, however, you can’t continue this trend when you’re playing good basketball teams. Losing in OT against the San Antonio Spurs is one thing but two of the past four games. Come on, now. When neither are back-to-backs and both are against weak teams such as the Nets, that’s concerning.
What is maybe the worst part about the recent Cavs skid is that they have left valuable points on the free throw line. Against the Spurs, they were 12 for 22 at the stripe. Tristan Thompson missed all four of his attempts. That kills us at times. I understand that free throws are generally not the biggest issue for a basketball team that makes its living shooting threes but the Cavs are just 25nd in the NBA at a 75 percent clip.
In their last three contests, they are shooting a horrendous 64.6 percent, according to teamrankings.com. When you lose two of three games in OT, free throws make the difference. Even James Jones, an 84.2 percent free throw shooter in his career, missed all three from the stripe when he was fouled on a three-point attempt. Moreover, the Cavs have plenty of time to get these nitpicky issues under control.
Thankfully for them, their lead over the Toronto Raptors has actually increased recently, reports FoxSports Ohio Cavs insider Sam Amico.
#Raptors lose fifth straight. So again, #Cavs' lead for first in East has actually increased during this January dry spell.
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) January 26, 2017
The Raptors have been just as dysfunctional, dropping five of their last six games. The Cavs need to eat their Wheaties, and get in the practice gym. It’s time to let general manager David Griffin do his job, and they need to do theirs. It starts with LeBron holding himself accountable in key moments of games; the others will follow.
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