Over the last 10 days, the Cleveland Cavaliers are just 1-4.
That includes a four-game losing streak that seemed to spark an existential crisis among fans of the Cavaliers. Most either began to tremble at the sight of such glaring flaws or they covered their insecurity by loudly declaring it all to be meaningless.
The Cavaliers did break their losing streak on Sunday afternoon against the Utah Jazz, defeating the tanking mountain men by a score of 120-91. Time will tell whether there are issues still present that need to be addressed or whether winning a game helped to get things moving in the right direction.
The Cavs had built such a lead in the Eastern Conference that they are still in control of the No. 1 seed. At 57-14, they are five games up on the Boston Celtics with just 11 games to go, which should be a safe lead if they play anywhere near their normal level.
Unfortunately for Cleveland, their four-game skid did have a cost -- and it could mean losing the NBA Finals.
The Cavaliers lost the lead for home-court advantage
All throughout this season the Cleveland Cavaliers have stayed out in front of the pack in the Eastern Conference, but they have been neck-and-neck with the incredible Oklahoma City Thunder for the league's best overall record.
Cleveland spent most of the past few months holding a slim lead, but their losing streak combined with the Thunder continuing to roll meant the Cavs fell back behind them. The Cavs have only 14 losses, but the Thunder have just 12.
There is no guarantee that the Cavaliers will get to the NBA Finals, and if they do, whether or not it will be the Thunder waiting for them on the other side. Yet given how dominant both teams have been this season, it's at least a very real possibility they will be the teams to win their respective conferences.
If they do, Cleveland has now yielded the homecourt advantage to their Western foes. Home teams are significantly more likely to win a playoff series, both on account of being a better team but also because they get to open at home and play Game 7 at home, a massive advantage.
For the NBA playoffs overall, the home team wins Game 7 roughly 75 percent of the time. In the NBA Finals, that advantage only goes up, as the differences in team quality lessen. In 19 NBA Finals Game 7s, the home team has won 15 of them, a 79 percent clip.
The Thunder have such a dominant lead in the Western Conference (currently 13.5 games ahead of second-place Houston) and such a deep, versatile roster, that they are the clear favorites to win the Western Conference and make it to the NBA Finals.
If they don't, if a team like the Denver Nuggets or Los Angeles Lakers upset them, the Cavs will have homecourt advantage over them. At this point, even if Cleveland lost its remaining games, they would finish with only 25 losses. Only Boston and Oklahoma City have fewer than that right now.
Against any other foe, Cleveland will get homecourt. Against the Thunder, however, they will be a significant disadvantage. That may be enough to tip the scales between two great teams and give the victory to the Thunder.