After 60 games, the Cavs are now back only 1 game ahead of [where they were last year](https://i.imgur.com/Mn7w18j.png). The hot streak is over, and they are now on pace to win 53 games which is not really the improvement we were hoping to see on last year.
They are 4-5 over their last 9 games with losses to:
– 76ers with Embiid or Harris at home
– Orlando at home
– 76ers again without Embiid
– Bulls without Lavine or Caruso
– Knicks without Brunson, Randle, Anunoby and Robinson at home
And the wins have been against:
– Detroit
– Washington
– The Injured Bulls
– Dallas (thanks to half court prayer)
Our Offensive Rating is 14th in this stretch, which is about average for us – we currently sit as the 15th ranked offense for the entire season. We lead the league in assist percentage and assist ratio in our last 9 games (for people who say we aren’t moving the ball) and we are 9th and 10th respectively in Effective Field Goal % and True Shooting %.
Don’t be fooled by the low scoring totals, that is due to the pace (we rank 26th in pace), the offensive efficiency is fine.
Our Defense however has really dropped off throughout this stretch, currently ranked 18th – compared to 3rd for the entire season. It’s difficult to pin down the exact area where we are stuggling, but it seems like we aren’t rebounding well enough and we aren’t forcing enough turnovers on Defense.
For the season we are +4.4ppg from point off turnovers and 2nd chance points. During this stretch we are -1.5ppg which is a difference of 5.9ppg. Coincidentally (or not), the difference in net rating between the season and this 9 game stretch is also 5.9 points. Obviously this isn’t the only factor but it is surely a major one.
We have had a pretty packed schedule recently so it’s understandable that the guys would be a bit tired, but it’s JB’s job to use his rotations to keep the guys fresh, and to maintain the motivation levels.
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The cavs beat up on genuinely the softest schedule in the NBA. It made people have a false sense of security that things have been changing. This team is extremely talented. There is no denying it but when the team is mentally weak and soft it doesn’t matter how much talent you have.
The cavs are losing games because of both offense and defense. Garland struggles facilitating when they have Mobley and Allen on the floor, it isn’t a coincidence that his turnovers go up when they are both on the floor, it’s a pattern. Mobley/allen is holding this team back, not because they aren’t good, they are great individually but they do not work together at all.