I wish I could be surprised by the Cleveland Cavaliers and the outcome of last night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies. I wanted so badly to be in stunned shock as a Memphis team minus four starters ended up beating a full-strength Cavs squad, at one point holding a 14-point lead in the second half.
However, I wasn’t surprised. Not even a little bit.
Despite going into the contest riding a three-game winning streak complete with some impressive victories, they flat-out laid an egg in embarrassing fashion. Yet, if you’ve been following this team all year, it was the only outcome you should’ve seen coming.
The reasoning is simple – Cleveland has been carrying a sense of entitlement all year long. The players often don’t deem it necessary to give full effort against clubs that they feel are unworthy. If the Cavs aren’t playing what they feel is a top-tier team, then they just don’t bother trying that hard.
The problem is that this entitlement is completely unwarranted. Cleveland may think it can go on cruise control whenever it wants under the impression that it has more talent than anyone, but that just isn’t the case. Yes, on paper, the Cavs are one of the most talented clubs in the NBA. Theoretically, a team with LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love should be able to walk all over 90 percent of the league any night of the week. It’s understandable for these players to have to combat the mindset of coasting against bad teams when you compare rosters.
However, this team has accomplished nothing yet. Sorry to burst the bubble of anyone who’s okay with Cleveland loafing in games, and who believes the team will flip the switch come postseason and everything will be fine. Based on how the Cavs played against the Grizzlies, it sure seems like they’re under that same belief.
Maybe it’s the result of getting caught up in their own headlines, hearing everyone proclaim that another Finals berth is inevitable, and just exuding the effort of a team which is merely waiting until June to turn it up. This, combined with the assumption opposing teams are just going to shudder in fear the second they take the court with Cleveland, sure seems to explain the Cavs’ trends this year.
Last year, the team went to the finals and stole two games from the Golden State Warriors. While this was quite an accomplishment considering who the Cavs were missing, it means nothing in the long run. It makes no sense for them to be over-the-top confident because of how well they played in a Finals loss.
Yet, this message sure doesn’t seem like it’s resonating with the Cavs. Instead, the players can express visible boredom all they want. Who cares about embarrassing yourself against a hobbled Grizzlies team when you’re clearly still a sure shot to coast through the Eastern Conference when it counts?
It’s this kind of attitude which leads Irving to use the weak excuse of being thrown off by Mike Conley being a late scratch, as if it explained why the Cavs lost to a weaker lineup.
It’s becoming clear that the Cavs are guilty of resting on their unearned laurels, and it’s tough to believe things will change anytime soon. For now, it appears the only thing fans can do is buy the idea the team will just pull a 180 come postseason and get everything figured out.
Maybe then, the team will finally have a reason to feel so entitled.
