Live Thread: Cavs @ Magic

The NBA season is a long grind, full of ups and downs. Losers of three in a row, and four of their last five, the Cleveland Cavaliers are currently in the midst of as bad a down swing as they’ve had all season. While they haven’t shot particularly well of late, the bigger concern is on the defensive end. Never a great defensive team, the Cavs seemingly can’t stop anyone right now, making any guard that goes against them look like a perennial All-Star. There are several reasons for this, new additions to the team are learning their roles,  while several players have been in and out of the lineup due to injuries and coach Tyronn Lue experimenting with his rotations. But the biggest reason off all is an amazing lack of focus and effort by the Cavaliers to defend the opposition. This has never been more apparent than the last three games, all losses to teams under .500.

Still, there’s nearly a quarter of the season left, plenty of time for the Cavaliers to integrate their pieces and come together. While it will take a while to fix all of the issues, every journey begins with a single step, and a victory tonight over an Orlando Magic team they have owned for the last few years could be the first step in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ journey back to greatness.