Live Thread: Cavs @ Nuggets

After the Cavs shooting troubles on Christmas Day against the Warriors, followed by them leaving their hearts in San Francisco the following night against the Blazers, the squad was in need of a slump buster, and they got it last night against directionless Suns in a 101-97 victory. Tonight’s matchup against the rebuilding Nuggets figures to be the second leg of new winning stanza to carry us into a hopeful new year.

As painfully as the Cavs’ two-game losing streak crashed our sugar infused holiday high, the franchise is lightyears from where they were 365 days ago. Don’t listen to that idiot at your workplace who thinks it’s time to panic because he watches four hours of regurgitated hot take gruel from the afternoon argument show block—this is the most worry free New Year we’ll experience as Cavs fans since 2008.

https://twitter.com/tompestak/status/680551353660370945

Perhaps I’m nuts, but I’ve felt bonded with fans of other franchises who have had their stars leave for bigger stages because they can relate to what we went through in 2010. I rooted hard for the Nuggets hard after Carmelo Anthony forced his way to the Big Apple, and they obliged. The team rebounded better than anyone in recent memory after trading away a franchise player, posting an impressive 57-wins in 2012-13, a higher total than the Nuggets ever tallied with Anthony. The following season George Karl and Masai Ujiri both severed ties with the franchise at the right time, and in retrospect the success of 2013 appears to have been fools gold. A rash of injuries, failed trades, and alcoholism were key contributors to their fall from grace.  The squad has been stuck in lottery land since, but this reboot looks promising with high-ceiling potential building blocks in Emmanuel Mudiay and Jusuf Nurkic, along with a bounty of tradable players in their prime, and the biggest war chest of draft picks in the West.

When #Cavs G Kyrie Irving sits Tuesday in Denver, he says it will be the final back-to-back set he misses https://t.co/6zHGlQMTya

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 28, 2015

Kyrie will be sitting this tilt out for maintenance after his 22 point in 24 minute performance against the Suns, but the Cavs should be able to gain ground on their 35-45 all-time series deficit to Denver, as the Nuggets figure to be without Danilo Gallinari, and Mudiay. Tip off is at 9:00p.m. on Fox Sports Ohio, and can listened to on WTAM 1100, 100.7 MMS.