Is it Time to Panic in Cleveland?
The Cavaliers, the overwhelming favorites at the start of the season to reach the NBA Finals from the East, are now just a half game up on the Boston Celtics for first place in the conference. In their past four games the Cavaliers have surrendered 120, 126, 105, and 127 points. Their effort, quite frankly, has been non-existent. There is a precedent for teams with lofty expectations to ramp it up come playoff time (see Lakers 2001, or even Cleveland last year), but LeBron and company are not where they need to be if they are serious about repeating as NBA Champions.
Yes, they added Deron Williams, Kyle Korver, and Derrick Williams to an already loaded roster, but none of them are synonymous with defense. And Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are both liabilities on that end as well. That leaves LeBron, Iman Shumpert, and Tristan Thompson as Cleveland's only plus-defenders. That's a problem, particularly when Shumpert and Thompson are so limited offensively. If this were football, Ty Lue could do offense-defense substitutions and be unstoppable. But this is basketball. You need two way players and the Cavaliers don't have many. Cleveland better right the ship because Boston, Washington and Toronto are looming.
