It’s no secret that the Cleveland Cavaliers are struggling mightily right now. They have been one of the worst defensive teams in the entire NBA in the month of March and have lost three straight as well as nine of their 14 games.
LeBron James has been vocal about the team’s lack of effort and their poor play in general while seemingly no amount of rest assigned by the coaching staff has kept the team fresh enough to get a convincing win in March.
On Thursday, as LeBron became the NBA’s seventh-leading all-time scorer, the Cavs lost once again by a final score of 99-93 to the Chicago Bulls. After the contest, James spoke about the Cavs’ current situation (via Sam Amick of USA TODAY Sports):
“We’re just in a bad spot right now,” James said after the Cavs fell 99-93 to the Chicago Bulls for their fifth loss in seven games. “I think the effort was there. Just don’t think the concentration close to 48 minutes is there yet, which is unfortunate.”
Well, that’s putting it lightly. The Cavs are still the presumptive favorite to get out of the Eastern Conference and losing to the Bulls (winners of 20 straight on TNT!) on Thursday night isn’t the worst defeat the Cavs have suffered lately.
Yet the Cavs are as vulnerable as they’ve been in a long time. Whether that will continue into the postseason or not is a valid question but for now, there is some cause for concern as evidenced by LeBron’s recent statements.
