During the final stretch of the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling. The Cavs are 5-7 in the month of March, and are coming off a 13 point loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday evening, after two days off.
For comparison, the Brooklyn Nets, arguably the worst team in the NBA, have six wins in the month of March. Perhaps even more alarming for Cleveland, they have been outscored by an average of 13.2 points in those seven losses.
The ill-timed rough patch has put the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference in doubt for Cleveland, who now lead the Boston Celtics by a single game, and close their season by facing eight likely playoff teams in their last 12 games.
The issue for the Cavs down the stretch, and all season for that matter, has been their defense, which has now fallen to 22nd in the NBA. James called out the team for both it’s lack of defensive effort and toughness after Wednesday’s loss.
(Via ESPN.com)
The Cavs, and James himself, have been known in recent years to coast on the defensive end during the season, and ramp things up during the playoffs. Still, just a few weeks before the postseason officially starts, the fact that Cleveland’s defensive focus has waned even furthur should be cause for some concern.
“LeBron shouldn’t be taking shots at anybody,” said Cavs beat writer Brian Windhorst on ESPN’s The Jump. “I don’t think it’s fair to maybe ask more of him. His defense this season has been horrific. It’s been the worst defensive season of his adult life…Last night he had a couple possessions where he was just embarrassing on the defensive end.”
All this should make the Warriors smile, especially considering they have rediscovered their groove after a rough patch of their own following the injury to Kevin Durant. Golden State has won five straight and seem to be trending upward at exactly the right time, while all indications would point to Durant being ready to rejoin the lineup before the start of the postseason.
We know better than to get carried away by any of this. The Warriors were a much better team than Cleveland for all of last season and still ended up losing the title. The Cavaliers had the same defensive issues during 2015-16, were far more dysfunctional, and, again, ended up on top.
Regardless, there is no denying that Cleveland is playing some of it’s worst basketball of the season, with the playoffs on the horizon. The Warriors, and their fans, certainly won’t lose any sleep over that fact.
