Cleveland Cavaliers Flipping The Infamous Switch

The Cleveland Cavaliers have now won four straight games after dismantling the Boston Celtics on Wednesday night, giving the Cavs sole possession of the top spot in the East.

Following the Cleveland Cavaliers loss to the Chicago Bulls on March 30 — which was the Cavs’ third loss in a row — the players held a team meeting immediately afterward in order to figure out what exactly had the team in a bit of a free fall.

It isn’t known what exactly went down during the meeting, but whatever was discussed must have gotten thorough to the reigning NBA champs.

Since that loss against the Bulls, the Cavs have seemingly turned things around. They have finally flipped that switch that fans have yearned for since the month of March began. The same switch they seemingly flip every year, around this exact time.

March was the worst month the Cavaliers — and LeBron James — have had since the King returned home to Ohio.

The team finished the month of March with a record of 6-10, the first time James has finished an entire month with at least 10 losses since November 2003 — more than13 years ago.

The Cavaliers have been clicking since April began, starting off the month with a 4-0 record.

The spike in improvement has come form all areas of the floor — especially defense — and the effort from each individual player has increased as each game passes by.

Over the past four games, the Cavs are still allowing opponents to score an average of 107 points per game; however, they are scoring at an average of 123 points per game.

The defense has still been susceptible at times, but the effort is noticeably improving and it would appear the players actually give a damn about guarding the entire floor, instead of just whoever is in front of them.

An even larger reason for the Cavaliers recent success has been the resurgence of J.R. Smith.

Mar 9, 2017; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons fans sit with a Cleveland Cavaliers fan holding a J.R. Smith sign before the game at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Pistons won 106-101. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports /

Smith has had a relatively rough season, battling injuries and trying to correct his poor shooting percentage following a career year last season.

Cleveland Cavaliers /

Cleveland Cavaliers

Over the last four games, Smith is averaging 15.8 points per game while shooting 54.8 percent from the field, but more importantly, he’s shooting 51.5 percent from 3-point range on more than eight attempts per game.

Those numbers are considerably higher than his season averages of 36 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from 3.

The streaky shooter is picking the perfect time to step his game up — as are his teammates — as the playoffs are just a little more than a week away.

Kevin Love has recorded a double-double in all four of the Cavs’ most recent wins.

LeBron James has scored 30 or more in three of those four games and recorded a triple-double in the lone game he scored less than 30.

Kyrie Irving has continued to score at the same level he has all season but his defense has elevated since the win streak began, starting with him being much more active with his hands when guarding the ball.

Irving’s one-on-one defense has still been iffy, but his awareness has been at an all time high, allowing him to intercept and deflect passes at an effective rate resulting in more possessions for his team.

Unfortunately, good news can not come without some sort of misery.

Tristan Thompson missed the Cavs most recent game against the Celtics after he sprained his right thumb during the Cavs’ win against the Orlando Magic on April 4.

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He will miss the upcoming matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, but is expected to be ready to go by the time the playoffs begin.

Without Thompson, the Cavs are still rolling heading into the playoffs and they shouldn’t skip a beat when he does eventually return.

The Cavs will finish the season against the Atlanta Hawks (twice), the Miami Heat, and the Toronto Raptors. All three of those teams are fighting for not only playoff positioning, but in the case with the Heat, they’ll be fighting just to get into the playoffs.

Those three teams will be trying their absolute hardest to pull out victories against the Cavs, trying to gain some much needed momentum (especially for Atlanta) heading into the playoffs.

If the Cavs decides to play the full roster for those games, fans should get a better understanding of what this team will be like when the playoffs begin on April 15.

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Why don’t they have closed team meetings all the time?

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