Cleveland Cavaliers: Lessons from yet another loss against Denver

Richard Jefferson will always be a champion.

Jefferson returned to Cleveland for the first time as an opponent after winning a championship with the squad in 2016. The hometown fans gave him the standing ovation like deserves.

While the hometown fans were excited about Richardson’s return, nobody was more excited to see him than his former teammates.

Jefferson will be a Cavalier for life just like the rest of the 2016 team. The memories that they brought us will never fade as the years pass on. Jefferson played a critical role in bringing the first championship to Cleveland in 52 years.

He also gave us this amazing Christmas Day dunk over Klay Thompson.

Thanks for everything RJ.

Slow starts continue to kill the Cavs. 

If I had to boil down the Cavs’ post All-Star break struggles I would say it’s their slow starts.

Cleveland has been laughably bad to start games. Since the break, they have posted a first-quarter offensive rating of 104.0 and a defensive rating of 120.4. Simply put, they have been outscored by 16.5 points per 100 possessions in the first half. That is the worst fourth worst first-quarter net over that stretch.

You have to play nearly perfect for the rest of the game to overcome consistent first-quarter deficits. The Cavs haven’t been able to do that recently.