5 reasons why the Cleveland Cavaliers are SO BAD right now
In the beginning of this young new season, both the 2017 NBA Finalists - Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers - were looking lackluster, to say the least. However, eight or nine games in, the Warriors, although not clinical, have at least found a way to win games. On the other hand, with more games, the Cavaliers have found more problems to deal with.
At the time of writing, the Cavaliers are 13th in the Eastern Conference with a 3-5 record and owners of a miserable four-game losing streak. To make matters worse, their four recent losses, have all come against teams that hadn't made the Playoffs last year - the Brooklyn Nets, New Orleans Pelicans, New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers.
Coming into this season, they were touted to hold their own as the deepest team LeBron James has ever had in Cleveland. Instead, they find themselves near the bottom of the East.
Why and how have they been so bad? We analyze. Here are 5 reasons:
#5 Injuries
At the time of writing, the Cavaliers have three players on the injured list - Isaiah Thomas, Iman Shumpert and Tristan Thompson. And although the 3-time champion isn't on the list, Dwyane Wade and his knees prefer limited minutes. Till a couple of games back, even Derrick Rose was sitting out games with a sprained left ankle.
While Thompson takes care of rebounding and leads the charge with respect to the Cavaliers' defense. The other four players are key to ensuring that Cleveland gets a respectable contribution from the backcourt.
So as favored as they are in the East, just like last year, the Cavaliers are playing the first half of the season short-handed. This, in turn, increases the load on James and we know how that went, right?
(LeBron panting on the bench in late-game situations of the 2017 Finals).