The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost two games back-to-back, but in the midst of a great season there’s no reason to panic for their fans.
After back-to-back losses in Utah and Portland this week many Cleveland Cavalier fans are starting to get a little nervous. Fans were excited to see Kyle Korver make his Cavaliers debut, but were disappointed with two mediocre performances. This team is much to good for a couple missed Western opportunities to bring on the hater.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are the still the top dog in the East, and the NBA needs to remember that. The sad part is that the Cavs struggle are very real. In those combined games, they saw one player (LeBron James) average over 20 points and only four (the big 4) even reach double figures. Besides them, no other Cavalier averaged over 5 points in that stretch. That is pitiful, but it time to worry?
After the Cavs’ tenth loss of the season should fans be worried about the future of the season?
The answer is no. Cleveland had two bad games, but in no way do those games have to be indicative of the future.
Jan 10, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyle Korver (26) defends Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) during the second half at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Jazz won 100-92. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Loss to Utah
First of all, let’s establish that Utah is an excellent team. They’ve struggled with injuries to key players throughout the season and yet have still clawed their way to a 24-16 record. They’re currently sitting at the fifth seed in the Western Conference and trending upward. When they are at full strength they’ve been extremely hard to beat this season.
In this game Cleveland’s shooting was uncharacteristically very low. Kevin Love shot 28.6% from the floor and Kyrie Irving was even worse at 27.8%. This isn’t something that’s going to happen often. These two are both having career seasons and on a typical night they’ll shoot better percentages than these on their most difficult attempts. There’s no need to be worried here.
The defense played well this game and held the Jazz to 100 points. This is a full three points under Cleveland’s average and a solid defensive performance. The effort was there the team just wasn’t making shots. It happens to the best of them, and Cleveland is still one of “the best of them” despite two losses.
Loss to Portland
Portland has been rather disappointing this season, but they’re still a team stacked with lots of talent. Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum have lit it up all season long, and they have other scorers with potential to go off in Allen Crabbe and Al-Faroq Aminu. Portland has been largely inconsistent but they have the potential to flame through competitors.
Cleveland’s defense felt very relaxed throughout the game, but the team only gave up 102 points which is still below their average. The effort wasn’t consistent on defense, but Cleveland still played fundamentally sound ball on that end of the court for a majority of the game.
The offense again is where the let down was. Lebron James, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Love all played poorly and the offense just never found its legs. Cleveland shot 34% from the floor as a team and could only muster 86 points against a team known for poor defense.
Before you get angry at those numbers, take into account a few factors. This game was the second night of a back-to-back which means that the players aren’t well rested. The team also hasn’t had a practice since December 28th, well before Kyle Korver joined the team. All of the “big three” have suffered from severe illness in the past couple of weeks. The Cavaliers didn’t arrive at their hotel until 7 AM the morning of the game which left them discombobulated. The traveling and back-to-back led Ty Lue to say that this game was “almost a scheduled loss.”
Sure, maybe there are some things to be concerned about. At this point in the season you don’t want to develop bad habits. But in the long run these games don’t matter one bit. Barring absolute catastrophe, the Cavaliers will inevitably be a top seed and make a deep playoff run. There’s no need to panic over two losses, and there’s no need to let some poor play ruin your expectations for the season.
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