For the fifth time in the first seven games of the 2017-2018 season, the Cavaliers paraded a different starting lineup. To all and sundry, the reason was clear; they needed to stop getting behind early and playing catch-up ball the rest of the way. And so head coach Tyronn Lue tapped point guard Derrick Rose, just back from injury, and erstwhile sixth man Tristan Thompson to join LeBron James, Kevin Love, and J.R. Smith in the First Five against the Knicks yesterday, hoping that the combination would click from the get-go.
For a while there, it appeared as if the Cavaliers would, indeed, at least keep up. After having spotted opponents a whopping 44 points in the first quarters of their previous four outings, they finally seemed to understand the importance of competing from opening tip. Unfortunately, the observation proved too good to be true. By the end of the first 12 minutes, they found themselves staring at yet another double-digit deficit. And by the end of the contest, they wound up absorbing their fourth defeat in five contests.
To be fair, the Cavaliers ARE trying, and the season IS still young. Considering that they鈥檙e in the process of adjusting to four new pieces in the regular rotation, it may well be unfair to expect them to jell at once. It certainly didn鈥檛 help that James, through whose hands the ball frequently goes, missed much of the preseason due to an ankle strain. In short, they鈥檝e been compelled to learn how to make the surfeit of talent at their disposal come together on the fly.
That said, there鈥檚 cause to take the Cavaliers to task given their poor slate. It鈥檚 one thing to lose, and quite another to lose to competition they should have had no trouble dispatching. For all their frailties, there can be no excusing the outcomes of their set-tos against the lowly Magic, Nets, Pelicans, and Knicks. And how they lost is no less disturbing.
Because the Cavaliers have James, even naysayers know better than to count them out. Then again, the little support he has received so far better improve, and fast. They can鈥檛 keep botching defensive assignments and giving up open threes, and especially not when their offensive efficiency is down. And they can鈥檛 keep saying they鈥檒l do better without showing something — anything — to indicate that they actually will.
True, the Cavaliers have been there and done that. And, true, their three successive trips to the Finals have earned them the benefit of the doubt. Still, they would do well to accept that they haven鈥檛 been very good, and that, unless and until they commit to addressing fundamental infirmities, not even the return of Isaiah Thomas will get them going.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is the Senior Vice-President and General Manager of Basic Energy Corp.
