Despite back-to-back losses against the Miami Heat, there’s no reason for the Cleveland Cavaliers to panic.
Things were looking up for the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 9-2 February and new free agents to fill out the bench. With Andrew Bogut breaking his tibia in what became an unpleasant loss to the Heat, things have calmed down.
Kevin Love and J.R. Smith are still sidelined. There is now a need for a Bogut replacement and he didn’t even spend a minute on the court. Deron Williams hasn’t gotten the groove well enough to earn Kyrie Irving and LeBron James the rest they need. The Cavs can be expected to have some bad games. But it seems like the time of year when everyone freaks out anyway.
This Is Nothing New
The news surrounding the Cavs one year ago was their embarrassing loss to a badly injured Grizzlies team. Memphis came to the Q with a starting lineup of Mario Chalmers, Tony Allen, P.J. Hairston, JaMychal Green and Ryan Hollins. Yet, they walked out victorious.
Championship hopes seemed doubtful for a team who could drop a home game to such an unfortunate opponent. Especially with the Warriors chasing a promising 73-9 season, which they would eventually achieve. No ring though, and that’s because that embarrassing Cavs loss didn’t matter once the regular season ended.
The Cavs also experienced that loss just a month and a half after a controversial coaching change. The team actually had a better winning percentage under David Blatt than Tyronn Lue in the regular season and there seemed to be reason to doubt the decision.
After the loss to Memphis, the team went a decent 13-7 to finish the regular season but they never found the dominant streak they hit the previous year; even after that 34-9 streak, the Cavs eventually fell to the Warriors in the Finals
Golden State, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City all looked more dangerous than Cleveland to end the 2016 season. But the playoffs are where it matters.
They’ll Show Up When It Counts
Free agents need time to settle in with the team. Deron Williams is being asked to play a meaningful role. It’s certainly one he’s up to, but he needs more than four games to get acclimated. There will most likely be a Bogut replacement. Love and Smith will return within the regular season with time to get into the groove.
The Cavaliers gave us little reason to believe they could dethrone a historic Warriors team last season. Alas, as soon as that playoff logo was on the court, they played to win. The only doubt the Cavs faced finally arose in the Finals, when they were put down 3-1.
I remember it felt obvious that the Cavs were in that position. With all the doubt consuming their regular season, it felt naive to really believe they would take out Golden State, no matter how dominant their run through the Eastern Conference had been. The title belonged to Curry’s Warriors from day one.
Yet, LeBron James is incredible, and so were his Cavaliers. The team made history and no one remembered that David Blatt or JaMychal Green were once relevant.
The Cavs can handle letting Dion Waiters drop 29 and beat them right now. They allowed Tony Allen to drop 26 points a season ago and they pulled through then.
I’m by no means guaranteeing a championship repeat; Cleveland could even meet their match before the Finals.
Nonetheless, what’s happening now is to be expected. It should be no reason to doubt the possibility of another great championship run.
Related Story: Andrew Bogut Is Out, Kevin Love Is In
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