Cavs must be able to turn the page in brutal December stretch

The Cleveland Cavaliers have a brutal schedule for the most part in December, but they must be able to turn the page and have a short memory.

November was a dose of reality for the Cleveland Cavaliers, who started off the 2019-20 season at 4-5, but then had trouble being more competitive against tougher teams and are now just 5-15. That was no shock, given that the Cavs are rebuilding, and playing so many young pieces big minutes.

The Wine and Gold have a brutal stretch in December, and they must be able to turn the page and stay the course to be in it game-to-game.

Cleveland got waxed unfortunately by the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday 127-92, and Friday against the Orlando Magic and Saturday against the Philadelphia 76ers will be a bigger challenge.

This will be already the third time rookie Darius Garland and the Cavs will have faced the length of Orlando and Philly in 2019-20, and the last time Cleveland faced the Magic, they lost 116-104 and had a season-high 25 turnovers, according to ESPN.

In that one, Garland had a season-high eight giveaways, and the offensive flow in general in that game, along with Cleveland’s matchup against the Pistons was minimal.

The Cavs, as players hit on, though, in media availability, looked to have had something of a blueprint as far as moving the ball and making multiple efforts on both ends in the second half against Milwaukee. In the game, Cleveland had season-highs with 32 assists and 17 made three-pointers, according to ESPN.

That sort of thing is the kind of effort and unselfishness the Cavaliers will need to have consistently in December. Plus, Garland had his best game of the season with 21 points, including five-of-seven from three-point range and six assists, to just one turnover.

The schedule is really tough these next few weeks, which will be road-heavy.

Four of the next five after Philly will be rough matchups, first at Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics, who are tied for the league’s fourth-best record at 15-6, according to NBA.com.

From there, Cleveland has a home tilt against the league’s leading scorer in James Harden, to go with tough players to account for in big Clint Capela and fellow dynamic playmaker Russell Westbrook, and clearly, the Cavs’ will have their work cut out for them in terms of individual and pick-and-roll defense in that one.

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Again from there after a game at the San Antonio Spurs, the Cavaliers will be on the road at Milwaukee, which is such a difficult one against last season’s MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo, and so many shooters who can light it up off kickouts from Giannis and Eric Bledsoe.

It’s no shock that with the Bucks’ length, and ability to break down defenses, that they are tied with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers for having the league’s best record at 19-3 thus far in 2019-20.

Cleveland also has matchups against the Toronto Raptors twice in December, who play such quality team ball on both ends and are getting it done even after the departure of Kawhi Leonard.

Toronto is going to be another tough one on the slate for Garland, Collin Sexton, and Kevin Love, I’d imagine.

Fred VanVleet and the Raps share the ball so well (as evidenced by them having the league’s fourth-best assist rate, as noted by NBA.com), and that’s even been the case with Kyle Lowry missing 11 games with him reportedly fracturing the distal phalanx of his left thumb, according to ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, though he’s back now.

The Raptors can really hound opponents on the defensive end, too.

Players such as OG Anunoby, Pascal Siakam, and such smart veterans in Lowry, VanVleet and Marc Gasol will make it difficult for Cleveland to get kickouts. Clearly, Garland, Matthew Dellavedova, Kevin Porter Jr. and company will need to be patient in their approach.

Cleveland will need to be well-aware of Toronto undrafted standout Terence Davis especially on the defensive end, too. Along with that, both of those Toronto matchups are on the road this month.

Moreover, the Cavaliers need to stay locked-in in coming weeks for head coach John Beilein and keep up the intensity to not concede huge runs, and while that’s much easier said than done, if they share the ball consistently, and are more disciplined in contesting of shooters, the Cavs can still be competitive.

That’s realistically what this team is asking for this season, anyhow, and after the Pistons game on Tuesday, Beilein touched on how the Cavs will keep working everyday to turn things around.

I understand there’s some “coach speak” in here, but it’s encouraging that Beilein is “not flinching.”

So again, in coming weeks, the Cleveland Cavaliers need to have a short memory, and not dwell on mishaps and/or tough outcomes.

That’s easier said than done with a group playing so many young guys in a rebuilding situation, but the Cavaliers have fought their way into games in the closing stretches a number of times.

That was against teams such as the Celtics, Sixers and Bucks earlier this season, so they can perhaps steal a few this month.

We’ll see what happens in regards to the Wine and Gold potentially dealing Tristan Thompson to a contender such as the Toronto Raptors, and/or Jordan Clarkson to a team such as the Sixers, as Sports Illustrated‘s Sam Amico reported that those two teams are interested in those two key expiring pieces for the Cavs, but Amico seems to believe TT and JC could stick around until more toward the February deadline, anyhow.

Again, though, the Wine and Gold have to a turn the page mentality, and have a short memory play-to-play if mistakes arise in this brutal December stretch upcoming.

It’s all about growth, as Beilein and the team has harped on, and hopefully the growth mindset will continue to be emphasized this month.