The Cleveland Cavaliers are kind of a mess right now, once again proving the theory that when the best player in the world isn’t in your lineup, you’re probably gonna have a bad time — apparently even if you have two other All-Stars around to help pick up the slack. You can interpret LeBron James’ recent “chill mode” comment any way you like, but what we do know is that things are not so “chill” in Cleveland these days. Including this latest stretch of LeBron-less ball, the Cavaliers are 1-8 this season with him in street clothes. The Cavs are also 2-9 in their last 11 games and, after a 103-84 beatdown at the hands of the Jekyll and Hyde-ish Sacramento Kings last night, have fallen to .500 (19-19).
So, about last night. If the Cavs are a listless ship, then the Kings are basically the Titanic. After starting out strong and looking — finally — like a playoff contender, DeMarcus Cousins suffered a viral infection and missed a few weeks. A nearly winless stretch from early to mid-December led to the firing of Mike Malone (again, when your best player is sidelined, it makes winning that much more difficult), and the Kings have been pretty much god-awful ever since. Then, they somehow put together a curb-stomping of the Oklahoma City Thunder last week, and did the same to the Cavaliers last night.
If one play could accurately sum up the Cavs’ recent woes, it probably wouldn’t shock you that the newest Cav — J.R. Smith — was involved. Midway through the fourth quarter, and with the game almost certainly out of reach, J.R. lined up a three-pointer with the shot clock winding down. As you can see (above), it did not go in. In fact, the line drive banged off the backboard so hard the camera crew focused on the glass just to make sure nothing had been jarred loose. Play immediately resumed, and the Cavs never got any closer than that 19-point deficit.
