The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost 15 of their past 17 games as the team continues to struggle to get out of this cycle of losing.
It’s been a long time since the Cleveland Cavaliers were 4-5 and appeared they could at least be competitive. In fact, that was over a month ago. Since that moment the Cavaliers have lost 15 of their past 17 games and have looked outclassed by nearly every opponent. The losses are not a surprise, it is the wins that are actually surprising. Defeating both the Portland Trailblazers and San Antonio Spurs? Nobody expected that. What was expected were the losses to everyone else on their schedule.
Over their past 17 games, Cleveland has been outscored by an average of 15 points per game. They are surrendering on average 116.4 points per game while only scoring 101.4. It is bad any way you put it.
There has been only two games where they did not give up more than 100 points. A 98-97 loss to Miami at the start of this streak and a 93-87 loss to Orlando in the beginning of December. The Cavaliers have failed to break the century mark seven times over this span. When considering both of these numbers it is clear they have some big problems.
The Cavaliers are nearing that moment in time where they start to ship out veterans in order to embrace the youth movement. Players such as Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson and Jordan Clarkson could intrigue contending teams. Add in the fact that veterans have been outspoken over the coaching style of John Beilein and things might be better off in the longterm if they move on from those players. Things are going to get worse before they get better in Cleveland. Might as well get a jump start on trading veteran players.
