Cleveland Cavaliers: Some Important Thoughts

Recently, the Cleveland Cavaliers have played a couple of the better teams in the NBA who reside in the Western Conference. They’ve taken them on in titanic clashes now that they’re playing well, giving fans things to be pleased about.

Of course, there have also been things to be discouraged about (or at least bothered by) in those same games. With the Cavs now being a team that looks like a legitimate contender, this is the time to start being critical of their performances.

Good

LeBron’s LeBron

Thank goodness. I mean, we have seen James playing at a much higher level ever since he returned from his two-week break, but in those two games he turned things up to another degree: enter playoff LeBron.

Here are the lines he dropped against Golden State and Houston:

Vs GSW: 42 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
Vs HOU: 37 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 3 blocks

Those 42 points were a season-high for him as well. This man is getting ready. He’s getting his team ready. It took a while, but the LeBron-train is finally getting prepared to leave the station at full power.

Can’t wait for spring.

Total Team Defense

The Cavs finally have a team capable of playing defense. They’ve got Timofey Mozgov in the back, ready to rumble, and they’ve got guys like Iman Shumpert and LeBron on the wing. In fact, J.R. Smith has actually played some great defense ever since arriving in Cleveland.

Great defense comes from great effort. You get what you put in. The Cavs have proven that when they dig their heels into the ground, they can stand tall with the best of them. Just in time too, because their schedule isn’t getting any easier.

Mozgov Can Handle Anyone

I don’t care if you’re Dwight Howard. I don’t care if you’re Marc Gasol. I don’t care if you’re DeAndre Jordan.

And I especially don’t care if you’re Andrew Bogut.

Timofey has proven himself to be an underrated performer at his role. He doesn’t back down from anyone and will most definitely be bodying you up for a block.

He just goes in, works hard, and comes out. What a professional.

Not to mention that between him and Kendrick Perkins they could fill the villain roles for the next two Die Hard films. Make it happen, Willis!

The Blue Cavaliers Jerseys Are The Best Cavaliers Jerseys

Mar 1, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward James Jones (1) talks to teammates during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. The Rockets defeated the Cavaliers 105-103. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /

Bad

Kevin Love Is Still Out Of Sorts

When Love is off, the Cavs can still win games. LeBron and Kyrie can pour out enough points that if the rest of the squad performs on defense and adds their average numbers to the mix, things will be just fine.

But that won’t be the case forever. Not in the playoffs. There will be a point when LeBron is having an off game, or Kyrie is being locked down by one of the better defensive perimeter players that Love needs to stand up and be the best third banana he can be.

I don’t usually like these comparisons, but when the Big Three era Miami Heat had this problem, Chris Bosh was often able to step it up and help get it done. There were even several signature games during those years where James and Dwyane Wade would sit out, and Bosh would go nuts.

Love hasn’t been able to do that. But he needs to.

He scored the quietest 21 points against the Rockets ever. I forgot he was in the game half the time!

It’s up to both him and the rest of the team to try and make him fit better. He’s been surviving by floating around the perimeter and just making the threes he missed earlier on in the season.

Things have gotta work out eventually, right? Right?!

LeBron Needs To Be Great

This is the main factor in both of these wins that bothers me a little. Both of the other members of the Big 3 played one good-ish game between the two matchups. Kyrie scored 24 against the Warriors and, as mentioned before, Love dropped 21 on the Rox.

Neither were fantastic. LeBron was fantastic. Remember those stat lines?

But here’s the problem: come the playoffs, he simply won’t be able to do that every game. He can’t drop 42 each and every night.

The Cavs have relied a little heavily on his ability to create something out of isolation. He did a ton of iso work in the Houston game. That’s fine in the regular season, but that sort of play is easy to plan for and counter in the postseason.

This team was built to be the Big 3. But if they’re going to get anywhere, so far they’ve only shown that it’ll be on the back of James. And for a man who’s been to the last four Finals burning the rubber on his tires, that’s a concerning thought.

Kyrie Got Hurt

He’s only going to miss a few days (maybe a week max), but still. When Cavs fans saw him go down in the game against the Warriors, you could hear a collective “Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap!” ringing out across the entire state.

In a season full of injuries and re-injuries, we really don’t need anymore.

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