Reality has come crashing down and the Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves below .500 with a stretch of tough games ahead of them. Things might get dark quickly if the Cavs are unable to patch up the glaring holes in their gameplan that have emerged recently.
There wasn’t much reason to be concerned when the Cavaliers dropped a few games with more than half of their rotation sidelined. Key injuries to Darius Garland, Kevin Love, Collin Sexton, Dylan Windler and Larry Nance Jr. lowered expectations.
Now the bar is much higher. The Cavaliers have gone toe-to-toe with some of the league’s best teams, winning consecutive games against the Brooklyn Nets and defeating the Philadelphia 76ers earlier in the season. Furthermore, they put up good fights against the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers despite falling short in the end.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have a tough stretch approaching. They will need to make these adjustments in order to survive.
Unfortunately, the Cavaliers are going to be tested even more in the upcoming weeks. They face off against the Milwaukee Bucks in back-to-back games before heading out on a five-game road trip against the Phoenix Suns, LA Clippers, Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors.
To cap it off, they end the first half of the season with a three-game gauntlet of Philadelphia, Houston and Indiana. It’s entirely possible the Cavaliers fall into a hole they can’t climb out of before the playoffs begin.
It all comes down to whether or not they learn from their losses or continue to make the same mistakes throughout their next few games. It’s easy to point out their flaws, but harder to change them. Let’s get the ball rolling by analyzing three adjustments the Cavs need to make.