NBA: 11 Players and teams that have gotten off to frighteningly bad starts

New York Knicks Julius Randle (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
New York Knicks Julius Randle (Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports)
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NBA Cleveland Cavaliers Donovan Mitchell
NBA Cleveland Cavaliers Donovan Mitchell (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)

Cleveland Cavaliers

Entering an increasingly important regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have gotten off to a rough start – and that’s putting it nicely. Through three games, the Cavs are 1-2 and they could easily be 0-3. Donovan Mitchell hit a late 3 to push the Cavs by the Brooklyn Nets by one point in the season-opener. After that win, though, the Cavs have dropped two straight games – a three-point loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder and then a 12-point loss to the Indiana Pacers.

While the Thunder and Pacers are improved heading into this season, those are two games that the Cavs should win. If they’re going to take a step forward in the Eastern Conference, it’s not a great look that the Cavs have gotten off to such an uneven start. In comparison, the Cavs got off to an 8-1 start to the season last year.

It’s just three games but this is certainly something to monitor moving forward. For the sake of their future, the Cavs can’t afford to take a step back this season. And thus far, it appears as if that may be the case.