It’s far too early to panic, but the obvious question must be asked right away – What’s wrong with this team?
The Cleveland Cavaliers were outhustled, outshot, and outscored by a lesser Toronto Raptors squad Wednesday night, losing in the Air Canada Centre 101-91.
Defensive lapses, rookie-like turnovers, and horrendous shooting doomed the Cavs from the start. Add in a lights-out shooting performance from Toronto’s Andrea Bargnani (11 of 15 for 28 points….seriously) and you have the makings of an embarrassing loss.
The effort by the Cavs wasted a triple-double by LeBron James. James finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists.
In 2008-2009, the third quarter was often a disaster for Cleveland, but that patch of rough water looks to be resolved, only to be replaced by poor play in the second quarter. The wine and gold were outscored 30-17 in the second stanza, leading to a 20-point deficit late in the half. 3-for-14 from the floor will do that to a team.
To be honest, right now this team looks like the Cavaliers of 2005-2006, when they were barely above average and always looking for LeBron James to pull out a win for us. That is unacceptable. This team was built to take the burden OFF of James, and the players are not executing or pulling their weight. LeBron is always capable of scoring 20 straight points, but this team should not be relying on that to happen like they did four years ago.
The Cavs have Thursday night off before taking on the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday night. God help us if we haven’t found a rhythm by the end of the game Friday night.
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