It was supposed to be a statement game for LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night. At home against the Golden State Warriors, to whom they narrowly lost in Oakland on Christmas Day with a still-green Kyrie Irving, this was to be Cleveland’s time to say, “This year will be different.”
They’re healthier than they were in any recent game against the Dubs, and they were at home with what promised to be a raucous crowd. They even had a little extra motivation after Steph Curry’s champagne comment before the game. And they still got creamed, 132-98. It wasn’t just a bad loss, it might have been the worst for any team LeBron’s ever played for.
https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/689291603853373440/photo/1
It’s important to note that the loss isn’t all on LeBron, whose 16 points still led the team (Kevin Love scored three points and will see Draymond Green in his nightmares). More distressingly, it may have hammered home the point that while the Cavaliers may be the class of the East, they still aren’t on the same tier as the Warriors (or the Spurs, to whom they lost a closer game the previous week).
For his part, James knows how much work the Cavs need to do, particularly on defense:
LeBron James on loss to #warriors: "We gon' have to get back to basics." #cavs
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) January 19, 2016
For now, with the Cavs having lost five-straight matchups to the Warriors, LeBron is just going to have to come to terms with stuff like this until something drastic changes.
https://twitter.com/World_Wide_Wob/status/689288971826757632
