Cleveland Cavaliers: Should the Cavs’ struggles against top teams be worrisome?
The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled against the top Western Conference teams, and it could be worrisome this time around.
This past offseason, the Cleveland Cavaliers completely remodeled their team in an array of ways.
They signed veterans, brought over their foreign sensation Cedi Osman, and traded away superstar Kyrie Irving. The addition of Isaiah Thomas, who was injured this past postseason, and Derrick Rose, who has been injury-prone throughout his career, has certainly not helped their record, mainly due to the number of games the duo has missed.
As a team, they’ve dealt with an array of injuries. Nonetheless, in the Cavs most recent games, the mostly healthy championship-caliber team continued to struggle against top teams, especially top Western Conference teams.
Let’s take a look at what elite teams the Cavs have played so far this season. For starters, the Cavs sit at 26-14. They’ve played the Timberwolves once, the Celtics twice, the Warriors once, and the Rockets once. In those games against the NBA’s top teams, they are 1-4.
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In the past, these losses haven’t haunted Cavs’ fans because they knew the team would easily be able to coast their way to the Finals.
But, this year, should they start to worry when their team gets blown out?
The Cavs have combined to lose by 50 in these fives games.
However, one thing to keep in mind is all four of the Cavs marquee losses have been on the road.
Already being difficult to win on the road, the LeBron James-led Cavs put up a fight in two of their four losses. In the other two, the Cavs seemed to just bow down and take the horrific loss, being down 20-4 in their most recent game against Minnesota.
Another quick fact is that in three of the Cavs four losses, they weren’t able to hit 100 points. For a team that averages over 110 points per game, it’s a bit worrisome that they struggle to score so much on the road against a quality matchup.
It’s not necessary the defensive effort of their opponent either. When the Cavs played the Trail Blazers at home just a few days ago, they put up 127 points. The Blazers, just like several other teams that the Cavs have destroyed, have one of the league’s top defensive ratings.
If you don’t take these four losses into consideration, then the Cavaliers would be a terrific 10-4 on the road; however, due to their poor road play against elite talent, they are 10-8 on the road.
So, is it time to worry about the Cavs when they aren’t at Quicken Loans? The answer is yes.
To add to that, LeBron James, who has forced his every will on most opponents, has struggled in these games. In the only game of the five that James topped 30 points, he was outdone by a huge 35-point triple-double by James Harden. If James excels, his team doesn’t, and if his team excels, James doesn’t dominate like he normally does.
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Ultimately, even if the Cavs make the playoffs as the third seed or worse, they will be playing basketball after April. The only question left is will their regular season struggles against top teams translate to the postseason.
Could this be the year that the Cavs struggle to make the Finals?