Don’t Count These Cavs Out

First, let’s establish something…one bad game does not define a franchise. So the Warriors kicked the crap out of the Cavs…it happens.

What about Christmas Day in Oakland? This was a game the Cavaliers probably should have won. They trailed by four, 81-77, with 1:33 remaining in the fourth quarter and had LeBron James going to the free-throw line for a pair.

If he makes both the Golden State lead is just two, the Cavs have all the momentum in the world and the Warriors feel something they haven’t felt much this season…pressure.

He missed both and Steph Curry made a lay-up at the other end.

J.R. Smith answered with a 3-pointer that cut the Warriors’ lead to 83-80 but Curry made his shots down the stretch while James missed a pair of open jumpers and Golden State escaped with the 89-83 victory.

That game was followed by the debacle in Portland, the 105-76 loss which saw the players seemingly quit and, in the process, sealing Blatt’s fate.

The Cavs then won nine of their next 10 games, losing only to San Antonio by four on the road. This was Kyrie’s 13th game back and the team gave a strong effort on the road to a San Antonio team that was playing incredible basketball.

That was when the team came home, after six games and two weeks on the road, and were blown out by the Warriors.

132-98 isn’t open to interpretation…it also was just one of 82.

There is a lot on the line for the Cavaliers. This was supposed to be the year is all came together. LeBron came home, the “Big Three” is intact and Cleveland was the odds-on favorite to win the NBA title this season after its impressive injury-riddled showing against the Warriors in the Finals last season.

There is no reason to write that off, or think the Cavs, as they are currently constructed, have no shot to win it all this season. They have, arguably, the greatest player on the planet in LeBron James. They have one of the best point guards in the league…arguably the best when healthy…in Kyrie Irving. They have, in Kevin Love, the perfect “stretch four,” a guy that can bang down low or fill it up from beyond the arc.

They also have an impressive post presence with the two-headed Timofey Mozgov/Tristan Thompson monster. Their bench is solid with scoring and defense.

Matthew Dellavedova has turned himself into a backup point guard any team in the league would love to have. Mo Williams is deadly from midrange and can score in bunches. Richard Jefferson is an old pro that has been through it all. Iman Shumpert is among the elite perimeter defenders in the league.

This brings me to the X-Factor…the player, in this writer’s opinion, who is the reason the Cavaliers can still be considered as one of the favorites to win the NBA title this season…J.R. Smith.

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