Wazzup Cavs?

The Cleveland Cavaliers (27-18) will battle the San Antonio Spurs (30-18) today amid rumors of discord within the team. They had only won three of their last twelve games and their match against the Spurs will test the struggles and troubles of LeBron James and his disciples.

Teammates were reportedly not pleased when Kevin Love left the team and went home after the first half ended in that blowout loss to Oklahoma. It was said that he had dizzy spells and played only three minutes in the first quarter. K-Love reportedly told coach Tyron Lue to use Tristan Thompson instead.

The OKC game last Sunday showed what ails Cleveland. There was no communication and the team often looked

lost in transition. The Thunder dominated on Cavalier grounds, started an 8-0 run and had 9-0 and 6-0 runs in between and then ended the first quarter with 43 points, which led to the crowd booing the home team. The 43 points was the most scored by OKC in any quarter this season.

This January, Cleveland had three blowout losses by at least 24 points. It is a complete reversal of fortune as between November and early December, they had won 13 straight.

At the start of the season, Cleveland surrounded their franchise player with highly offensive backups like Isaiah Thomas, Dwayne Wade, Derrick Rose and old reliables Love, JR Smith, Iman Shumpert and Kyle Korver. They can light up the scoreboards brighter than Christmas lights if they want to but they can’t defend a refrigerator.

Smith is getting staler by the day. Thompson is but a mere shadow of the defensive ability he showed two seasons ago and is hampered by a calf injury. Shumpert likewise is playing hurt and D-Rose still has to get his groove back.

LeBron is their best defensive player and yes, there’s Jae Crowder but he is not an elite player who can score above 10 points on a nightly basis. Even teams like Orlando had kicked their butts already, twice. The Spurs also have their struggles but they play defense to offset their lack of offense. If their defense stays as porous as a sponge, which is very likely, strong chance San Antonio will give LeBron another locker room tantrum post game.

Entering that game, LeBron needed only 25 points to join the 30,000-point club but he was seven points shy, scoring only 18. His production had decreased. Compared to his December stats of 27.5 points, 7 rebounds and 10 assists a game, he now averages 22.5ppg, 6.8rpg, 7apg and 4 turnovers in the last 12 games.

Isaiah Thomas could be the reason on LeBron’s offensive decline. IT4 was incorporated into the offensive rotation and had played in seven of their last nine games. As a volume scorer, he needs the ball on his hands every time he’s on court. Love’s production likewise dipped with IT4 around, from 18.6ppg and 9.4rpg to 13.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Win or lose, an elite team like Cleveland is not supposed to give away 148 points. How they’ll be dealing with a severely depleted Spurs playing without Kawhi Leonard, Pau Gasol, Rudy Gay and Manu Ginobili remains to be seen today.