Putting The Cavaliers Into Perspective

The week and-a-half leading up to All-Star Weekend was a rollercoaster for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

On February 7th, LeBron James buried a freethrow line jumper at the buzzer to clinch a 140-138 overtime thriller against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The next day, GM Koby Altman traded six players, including Isaiah Thomas, for four new players in an attempt to prevent what he called a “march to a slow death.”

After a shorthanded win against Atlanta on the 9th, the new-look Cavs took the Boston Celtics behind the woodshed, beating them 121-99 and effectively ruining Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement ceremony. Two days later, Cleveland bullied their way to their third road win in a row, beating Oklahoma City 120-112.

The good times didn’t stop there.

Larry Nance Jr., one of the four players acquired at the trade deadline, showed out on All-Star Saturday night, coming in second in the Verizon Slam Dunk Contest. The next night, #TeamLeBron pulled out a three point win over #TeamSteph in the most exciting All-Star Game in recent memory, and after putting up 29 points, 10 boards, and 8 assists, the team’s namesake, LeBron, was named All-Star Game MVP.

It might seem foolish to include All-Star festivities with Cavalier-specific accomplishments, but I’d argue it’d be foolish not to. Since February 7th, everything had come up Cleveland. They exercised their national television demons, they transformed their team in a matter of hours, and a couple of their guys performed well on one of basketball’s biggest stages. For one of the first times this season, the Cavaliers experienced two whole weeks of positive energy.

Then last night happened.

In their first game back from the break, the revamped Cavaliers took their first step backwards, losing to the John Wall-less Washington Wizards, 112-103.

A loss to a top-4 team in the Eastern Conference obviously isn’t devastating, but regression is, and Thursday night, Cleveland regressed. J.R. Smith and Tristan Thompson were the second and third leading scorers. Each of the four newly-acquired players scored less than ten points. The team was out-rebounded, they turned the ball over more than Washington, they shot only 22.9% from three, and their defense was lackluster. Over the course of the entire game, and especially during the second half, poor rotations allowed for wide open layups and left three-point shooters by themselves on the perimeter. It’d be unreasonable to say the defense looked as bad as it had for the last month, but it certainly wasn’t good.

And I do think there is cause for concern in Cleveland. Despite getting younger, longer, and more athletic at the deadline, the Cavaliers have real issues which need to be addressed. That being said, I’m not here to write about the issues. I’m here to write about the madness that surrounds this team.

LeBron James has been the biggest story in basketball for the better part of fifteen years. He was the best high school player in the country and within five years of being in the NBA, he was the best player there. And as it always has, attention follows him. No matter where he’s been, no matter where he’s played, attention has followed LeBron James. What’s interesting, however, is that the attention he’s receiving now is stronger than it’s ever been before. With every win and every loss, a new narrative is born. If James leads the Cavaliers to a big win, they’re back. If they lose, they’re done. There have been situations in the past where speculation shifts rapidly but never this fast.

After the first two games with George Hill, Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr., the Cavs went from a dumpster fire to a lock to win the East. At least, according to NBA Twitter. Level-headed people could’ve told you to wait a little longer, to give these Cavaliers ten (or so) games before making any judgement, but this is the internet we’re talking about. Cooler heads never prevail, and after last night, the hotheads were out and about.

Fortunately, when it comes to basketball, I’m not a hothead. I’m passionate, that’s for sure, but I’m not a hothead. I don’t fly off the cuff. That’s not my style. I like to look at the big picture and take everything in. I like to deal with facts and with this Cavalier team, there are a whole lot of facts.

They have the third worst defensive rating in the NBA. That’s a fact. They are trying to slot four brand-new players into big roles with only 25 games left in the regular season. That’s a fact. They are not as good as they were last year and have no replacement for Kyrie Irving. That’s a fact.

But what’s also a fact is they have a rejuvenated LeBron.

In his last five games, James is averaging 30.4 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 12 assists. He’s playing like The King. And he’s acting like a kid again. When Isaiah Thomas was around, it was clear LeBron was miserable. Things just weren’t working and it was wearing on him. But since that buzzer beater against Minnesota, he’s back to acting like a kid on the court. He’s standing with his teammates. He’s celebrating on the floor and on the bench. He’s flying around like he did when he was 25. He’s having fun playing basketball. His stats reflect that and the Cavs’ record from here on out probably will, too.

I said that I like to deal with facts and the fact of this entire matter is this: the Cavaliers are a flawed team but also have the best player in the world. Will that be enough to win the East? I don’t know. We’ll have a better understanding when Kevin Love comes back in three weeks. Until then, we’ll have to wait and see. But while we’re waiting and seeing, we have to stop treating every game this team plays like it’s life or death because it’s not. Basketball teams round into shape. The pre-deadline Cavs were rounding into bad shape, but this team is completely different. They have new players. They have a new LeBron. They’re new. They don’t have a ton of time to gel but that’s their problem. Ours is to make good analysis and not treat every win like nirvana and every loss like the apocalypse.

Written by Taylor McCloud, @tdmcld