Things aren’t going well for the Cleveland Cavaliers this year. They came into the season expecting to compete for a championship, but now find themselves in the play-in tournament after a disappointing first third of the season.
This type of start to the season isn’t unique to Cleveland sports this year. The Cleveland Guardians went to the American League Championship Series in 2024 and were expecting to build on that success in 2025. That didn’t happen as they merely tread water for the majority of the season. They found themselves two games under .500 with just a month left in the season. The Guardians then won 24 of their last 32 to win the AL Central and get back into the playoffs.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson is hoping that his group can show that level of resiliency.
“I was talking to my friends at the Guardians today,” Atkinson said before Friday’s game against the Chicago Bulls. “I think they had two streaks where they lost 10 in a row. … I know baseball has a ton of games and all that. … But how’d you keep it together?
“This is just part of pro sports. It’s hard to win in professional sports. And we go through the dip. You gotta manage it. You got to trust your group. I don’t think there’s ever a point you’re like, ‘Forget it, this is a disaster.’”
We’ll see if the Cavs can get through this stretch without some of their main players. They’ve lost seven of their last 10. This includes three out of four against struggling teams going into Friday’s rematch with Chicago.