The Cleveland Cavaliers have been on another planet as their competition for much of the season. They started the year winning their first 15 games and it's pretty much been smooth sailing.
The Eastern Conference leaders had a three-game losing streak back in January, but there wasn't much concern because All-Star Evan Mobley missed the first two games and two of the losses came down to the wire with the Houston Rockets, the current No. 2 seed in the West.
However, the Cavaliers are in the middle of another three-game skid, but this time around the reception from the fanbase and the rest of the league hasn't been so forgiving. Opposing teams and fans have been praying for the bottom to fall out in Cleveland all season, and they are using this as an opportunity to victory lap.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) is congratulated by his teammate. Michael McLoone-Imagn Images Michael McLoone-Imagn Images
The team with the NBA's best record has lost to the Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, and Sacramento Kings consecutively. While they certainly aren't bad teams by any stretch, the Cavs should be beating middling teams resoundingly at this point in the season.
The fanbase is currently in dismay, but the franchise's centerpiece Donovan Mitchell offered some calming words.
The All-Star told cleveland.com that he is enjoying the current losing streak and that it makes the season fun. It's likely that there has never been a leader of team that uttered those words, but it makes perfect sense.
Obviously, Mitchell doesn't enjoy losing, but his team hasn't had many obstacles to overcome this year and they're getting a test at the perfect time. There is a little less than a month left until the postseason starts, and Cleveland would much rather iron out the kinks now than to fall apart in the middle of a series.
The former All-NBA guard then went on to say that the team has some [stuff] to fix. One of these problems is center Jarrett Allen who has been under fire recently for not being able to compete against elite big men. In the last two games he has combined for just 18 points and 13 rebounds.
That simply won't cut it in the postseason against the NBA's finest like Giannis Antetokounmpo or Karl Anthony-Towns.
While there's little that head coach Kenny Atkinson could do at this point to alter the team, he could adjust the rotation to figure out where Allen is best utilized. Luckily, Mobley has been on a tear this season, so in the extreme event that Allen needed to be moved to the bench, Cleveland likely wouldn't miss a beat.
Just like Mitchell stated during his interview, "the sky is not falling" in Cleveland, but they need to make adjustments in the home stretch of the season. They can still re-elevate to the juggernaut that they proved to be earlier in the season, but they need to do a little fine-tuning first.
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This story was originally published March 20, 2025 at 7:48 PM.