The Cleveland Cavaliers have not been playing like legitimate title contenders, as of late. Are the Defending NBA Champions in trouble?
A month ago, there was reason to believe that because the Golden State Warriors lost Kevin Durant due to injury, it would be the beginning of the end for them. Then, on the contrary, with the additions of guys like Deron Williams and Larry Sanders, plus the return of starters like J.R. Smith and Kevin Love, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be on their way to successfully defending their NBA Championship.
Ironically, the Warriors adjusted pretty well without Durant. In fact, the Strength in Numbers mantra looked more evident in the previous 12 wins that they have had.
On the other hand, the Cavs looked very ordinary. At times, players seemed disengaged. The team, in general, played mediocre basketball. Drama was at its highest, as it manifested in flops or shouting at teammates and coaches.
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Most importantly, the Defense has literally been non- existent.
The Less Than Stellar Stats
In 17 games played in March (via stats.nba.com), the Cavs went 7-10, which translated to a less than stellar 41.2 percent (wining percentage). Their +/- average in March was a -3.2. They only averaged 106.1 points per game while giving up 109.3 points per game to their opponents.
Furthermore, their opponents in March shot 46.9 percent from the field, 36.3 percent from the three- point area and averaged 20.7 free throw attempts per game. The Cavs were also -4.3 in rebounds per game and -1.2 in assists per game in comparison to their opponents.
Average steals per game was only at 4.8 spg, lower than their season average of 6.6 spg.
The Body Language
The Cleveland Cavaliers were simply outplayed by their opponents. For some reason, the chemistry was not there. They did not look as committed, as hungry and as engaged towards winning. Most importantly, the Cavs did not look bothered even during defeats.
Three Questions
Were they already bored and tired of going through the season?
Did they just want to get the season over and done with?
Did they feel like that they could just turn on the championship switch anytime?
Are the Defending NBA Champions in trouble?
My answer is… NO. The Cleveland Cavaliers led by LeBron James are NOT in trouble. Why? If there is one thing that winning a championship does, it teaches the whole team how to win when it matters. This applies very much to a Cavaliers team that came back from a 3-1 deficit against arguably, the best regular season team of all time and the so- called Light Years Ahead from Everyone, Golden State Warriors.
The Cavaliers did not have a bad season. They just had a pretty, bad month last March. And let us not forget, they are also very healthy, right now. No injuries to any significant player such as one coming back from a knee injury or wrist injury.
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One more thing, and probably the most important of them all, they have a guy named LeBron James, who may not have averaged a triple- double like Russel Westbrook did, but is more than capable of bringing the whole team back to championship level in the next three months.