Some players on the Cleveland Cavaliers say they can attribute their recent slump to one factor: they aren't practicing enough.
The Cavaliers lost their second game in a row on Wednesday, a 102–86 road loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Cleveland last had pracice on Dec. 28, nearly two weeks ago.
"Whether it's some of our shots or some of our plays, getting out in transition, playing with pace. We're always a better team when we do that. Practice time would be great for us, but it's just hard to find right now," Cavaliers forward Kevin Love said, via ESPN.com.
"Schedule, injuries, sickness, a lot of stuff," Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue added. "But I mean it's no excuse. We know what we're doing, what we're supposed to do."
Cleveland acquired shooting guard Kyle Korver last weekend, yet Korver has yet to workout with the team.
The team next plays at Sacramento on Friday and plan on practicing again on Sunday, before taking on the Golden State Warriors in a nationally televised game on Monday.
"We get one on Sunday in Golden State," Cavaliers forward LeBron James said of practice. "We need it. Just to get on the court, just to get re-acclimated on what needs to be done. Get Kyle acclimated on what needs to be done. There's only so much film [study] and watching film [you can do], and [we] didn't get an opportunity to have a walk-through [Wednesday] morning because of the situation [Tuesday] night. So we need it."
Cleveland is 5–4 in their last 10 games, and lead the Eastern Conference by three games over the Toronto Raptors.
- Scooby Axson
