After an explosive stretch entering February, the Cavaliers again look like the heavy favorite in the Eastern Conference, the only team capable of challenging the Warriors, Spurs or whichever sleeper comes out of the loaded Western Conference.
What sparked this Cleveland renaissance, from the depths of a few ugly losses and the sudden, late-Friday whacking of prickly coach David Blatt?
Was it the coaching change, promoting assistant Tyronn Lue to the top job? LeBron James’ leadership finally taking hold? Or just a ridiculously talented team finally playing like it ought to? Perhaps the Cavaliers were just too talented to continue to flounder against top teams.
Since the move, the Cavs are 5-1, including wins over the Spurs, Pacers and Pistons. And it’s not a coincidence Kevin Love, who failed to live up to expectations under Blatt, has thrived under Lue, averaging 19.1 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.
Lue has used Love more at the elbow, once his bread-and-butter offensive spot in Minnesota, and the results have been positive. He is averaging 5.6 elbow touches per game, compared to 3.8 under Blatt. Love scored 21 points against the Spurs, 14 in the first quarter, as the Cavs ran their offense through him in a convincing 117-103 victory.
“It was by design,” Lue said, according to Cleveland.com. “Kevin had it going early, so we wanted to keep featuring Kevin.”
James’ role shouldn’t be diminished either, when it comes to Love. As silly as it sounds, he finally included him in one of his post-game Instagram photos with teammates.
James and fellow stars Love and Kyrie Irving led a recent players-only meeting said to have resolved some chemistry issues such as accountability and different rules for certain players, according to ESPN.
“It was very healthy for the team,” a source told ESPN. “It probably needed to happen weeks ago.”
Curiously, that explanation surfaced just as Lue was gaining credit for the sequence of impressive wins. James — navigating a fine line in the power dynamics of a loaded Cavaliers constellation — will soak up the responsibility (and accolades) of being a team “leader,” while shunning the blame that comes with a formal position of power such as head coach, as it did for Blatt.
“I’m happy to be one of the leaders of this team, of this franchise, and we’re going to go out and try to win every game and be great citizens off the floor and role models to these young kids that’s looking up to us,” James told cleveland.com, in comments prompted by Phoenix’s ouster of coach Jeff Hornacek.
“I couldn’t be a head coach,” James said. “Boy, I’ll get blamed for every little thing. Can you imagine that? Please.”
The Cavaliers’ current good vibes could be attributable to their new coach, it could stem from the locker-room Kumbaya moment, or perhaps it was simply inevitable the Cavaliers would get it together.
Or some combination thereof. After all, the Cavs were 30-11 under Blatt and reached the NBA Finals a year ago.