MIAMI -- Typically reporters walk into the locker room, huddle around the players and ask questions. But on this night Larry Nance Jr. reversed roles. He had a question of his own. Or was it more of a riddle?
“What do you do with s---,” he asked out loud, before a guess or two came his way. “You flush it. Those are my comments for tonight.”
Alright then. Short, sweet and to the point. Teammate Tristan Thompson, in the locker across from Nance, had a similar breakdown of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 124-105 loss to the Miami Heat on Saturday night, a game that lasted much longer than usual because of Dwyane Wade’s jersey retirement at halftime.
“Just coming off a back-to-back against D.C.,” Thompson said. “So, one of these games where out of 82 games, you have those games you just flush. It is what it is, we got a good win in D.C. and come down to Miami, it’s D-Wade night, there’s a lot of other stuff going on. So, you just take these games and flush it, and get ready for Monday.”
It’s easy to grasp that perspective. Clunkers happen. To every team. In the big picture, it’s tough to gauge what Saturday night’s loss actually means. What changes as a result? What was really learned? Sure, it’s embarrassing in the moment and the frustration was clear as players slowly walked back to the bench throughout, especially as the Cavs’ feeble defense gave up a whopping 82 points in the first half to the Jimmy Butler-less Heat. And, of course, the Cavs’ season-long Achilles heel -- turnovers -- rapidly derailed a solid first quarter.
But Miami is a playoff team. The Heat have a firmly established culture. They are on a completely different level. They are dominant at home, boasting the league’s third-best mark. So, yes, there will be nights, many of them, where the Cavs’ imbalanced roster is completely outclassed. That’s just the reality. It’s a fool’s errand to measure Cleveland against Miami. No contest. Everyone recognizes it. This season was never about end results. Good thing, right?
“That’s a really good ball club at the end of the day, we all know what they are trying to do and what their goals are for the season,” Thompson said. “So for us, we got to accept the challenge and have a better effort for 48 minutes on Monday.”
Playing a full 48-minute game has been an issue all season. Not a surprise. Bad teams have a difficult time mustering those performances. And there’s enough evidence to recognize that the Cavs are, no matter how some players might have viewed this situation entering the season, one of the league’s worst teams. Adding Andre Drummond didn’t change that. Switching to J.B. Bickerstaff wasn’t going to either.
Consistent effort on defense has also been problematic. Of course it has. Privately, at one point in the first few weeks, one of the coaches admitted that the personnel didn’t exist on the roster to defend at a high level. At best, the Cavs would be somewhere in the bottom third. After Saturday night, the Cavs once again dropped to the bottom of the rankings, tied with the Washington Wizards. The backcourt duo of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton are typically overmatched physically. Cedi Osman can’t handle premier perimeter scorers. Drummond’s reputation as a rim protector is a bit deceiving. The Cavs improve by nearly six points per 100 defensive possessions with Kevin Love off the floor.
Sometimes it’s a lack of hustle, especially when it comes to the continued transition woes. Other times there’s a lack of communication or even recognition, which usually happens with teams that allocate heavy minutes to young players. Does it mean bad habits are being built? Can those habits quickly fade when (if?) the front office finds some players who can actually hold up on that end.
Following Saturday’s game, Bickerstaff, who was responsible for overseeing the defense as John Beilein’s lead assistant before taking over as head coach, was asked where to start on that end.
“It’s the commitment to it, that’s first and foremost,” Bickerstaff said. “Then you have to pick your poison. The NBA is so good offensively that you have to figure out what you’re able to give up. Then you have to put the emphasis on what you are willing to give up and how you stop the things that you’re not trying to give up, right? We have to do a better job of defending the 3-point line and protecting our paint. Those are two things that schematically we have to figure out. Then just have the commitment to go and get it done.”
The latest loss in Miami marks the 18th straight -- a futile streak that dates back to 2010. That probably played part in the team’s perspective. It was also the second game of a back-to-back and the plane landed in Miami around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning. They often calls these “schedule losses.” The Cavs will have a chance to bounce back on Monday in Cleveland.
But on this night, there just wasn’t much to take. Even the positive spin some tried to use didn’t pass the smell test. Yes, the Cavs won the second half. But is that really relevant after getting blitzed by 30 in the first 24 minutes? Can that really stand up as some beacon of pride when the Heat played end-of-bench-guy Udonis Haslem for 10 minutes -- his longest action since the November blowout against the Cavs -- and spent most of the fourth quarter trying to get him his second made basket of the 2019-20 season? Collin Sexton had nine assists, one off his career-high. But is that number meaningful given five of those dimes came in the second half when the game had already been decided? What does a team-high 19 points mean for Cedi Osman when the Cavs were outscored by 22 in his 38 minutes? It all seems empty.
Sometimes, like Nance and Thompson said, flushing is best.
On one hand, the organization recognizes its reality -- and that can be healthy. Honesty is important in evaluation. On the other, in a continuous fight to build a foundation, any sign of apathy creeping in or an acceptance of these blowouts, can be detrimental to the ultimate goal. Over the final few months, the Cavs have to keep the lines between the two clear.
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