After a beautiful 17 wins in 19 games, LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers have suddenly hit the skids losing three of their last five.
It’s only natural that the month of March starts the upswing for basketball fever in this country.
It brings March Madness of course — as collegiate teams all over the nation currently jockey for positioning in conference tourneys, only to sit down in front of a television on Selection Sunday to watch and listen to their fate.
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March also brings measuring-stick games in the world of the National Basketball Association as the playoffs creep up ever so subtly.
While fighting for position in the NBA playoffs is somewhat of a novel concept these days (see Gregg Popovich), matchups are circled on the calendar in attempt to size up each team’s chances in the spring.
For LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night, it turned out to be another tough measuring-stick loss to the Eastern Conference’s best, the Atlanta Hawks.
It wasn’t even a contest down the stretch. Atlanta knocked off Cleveland 106-97 at home as they limited James to just 5-of-13 shooting.
Yup, that’s right, The King only took 13 shots.
Prior to them hosting the Phoenix Suns on Saturday night, this now marks the Cavs’ third loss in their five games after that wonderful stretch of 17 wins in 19 games that started once the roster was revamped with the likes of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov.
The other two losses were at the hands of another championship hopeful in the Houston Rockets (featuring the groin kicker himself, James Harden), and the Indiana Pacers.
The almighty question is whether this mini stretch should be worrisome.
The answer? Absolutely not.
Cleveland is right where the want to be. All season long they’ve trailed behind everybody in all aspects — in the standings, in the news, and in our thoughts.
After the incredible hot streak went down, they’ve suddenly jumped right back up in the limelight and LeBron decided to thrust his name into the MVP mix (like a man on a mission).
Eight of their last 10 games have come on the road. They’ve traveled to certain cities like Chicago (prior to the All-Star Game) New York, Toronto and Houston. There’s no question that great teams need to win on the road, but at some point we need to allow some time for a regroup.
They haven’t enjoyed back to back home games since before All-Star weekend.
Furthermore, James and company did one hell of a job against the best team from the West in the Golden State Warriors.
On Feb. 26, the Cavs knocked off the Warriors 110-99 in a statement game that shot through the league very quickly. More than just a victory, the Cavs were in complete control from start to finish.
Their defense even decided to shut down the unguardable in Stephen Curry, limiting him to just 5-of-17 shooting. In fact, they shut down the best scoring and most efficient offensive team in the league (42.4 percent shooting).
The loss against Harden and the Rockets came down to overtime and only due to James inconceivably choking up two free throws that would’ve won the game.
The squad had victory in hand on the road in a very tough environment. There’s no chance in the world to worry about LeBron for those unforgivable foul shot misses.
While they’re in the midst of a mini rough patch, their roster is as complete as can be and in prime position to make a run at the Eastern Conference. Thanks to the Chicago Bulls once again not remaining whole for the entire season, the division is most likely theirs.
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The rotation is solid. Smith now provides them with another tough, outside shot maker and Shumpert brings incredible perimeter defense to the table. The only piece that could use work is Kevin Love and how he can fit more properly.
Regardless, LeBron’s only mission now is to figure out how a seven-game series should be navigated against an excellent team-oriented (San Antonio Spurs-like) Hawks team. We all know how tough a time Popovich has given him in the past.
Most of us already know the East will come down to Cleveland and Atlanta.
The only question Cleveland faithful should be concerned with is whether the Greg Popovich disciple in Atlanta will also have LeBron’s number in postseason play.
Pop couldn’t have passed that magic on to Mike Budenholzer too, could he?
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