Since the departure of LeBron James, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been the NBA’s perennial punching bag, and despite a degree of fanfare heading into training camp, this season has been no different.
At least until three weeks ago, when a possible sign of hope emerged in the form of a quiet winning streak, snapped at six games by the Toronto Raptors on Friday night at the Air Canada Centre.
Cleveland’s recent success wouldn’t have been anywhere near as surprising had it come in November, riding the coattails of those elevated preseason expectations. But given the team’s disastrous first half, stringing together a six-game streak seems like a minor miracle at this point—one that has allowed the Cavs to escape the Eastern Conference cellar and climb to tenth, five games back of the free-falling Atlanta Hawks.
So, have the Cavs finally figured things out, or was the streak an aberration?
Cleveland’s problem this season hasn’t been talent. Their roster is littered with lottery picks—back-to-back No. 4s in Tristan Thompson and Dion Waiters, and two first overalls in Kyrie Irving and Anthony Bennett. Mix in the nice free-agent addition of Jarrett Jack, a promising young centre in Tyler Zeller and the mid-season acquisition of Loul Deng, and on paper this should be a decent team.
Games aren’t played on paper, though, and this season’s Cavs have simply struggled to play any semblance of organized offense or maintain defensive concentration for a full 48 minutes. The latter is especially disappointing given that head coach Mike Brown was brought in this summer specifically to implement a defensive system that would change the culture in Cleveland.
But during the streak, the Cavs finally managed realize their on-paper potential on the floor. On the season, the Cavaliers have posted an offensive rating of 99.4, good for 24th in the league, and a defensive rating of 104.6, the league’s 18th-best mark. During the win streak, they had the NBA’s fourth-best defence at 97.1 and tenth-best offence at 106.9. Obviously, a 15-point jump in net rating represents a pretty substantial improvement.
In the best-case scenario playing out in the daydreams of dedicated Cavs’ fans, that improvement is a sign the team has finally gelled after what amounts to a 45-game fight in the locker room. But look a little closer and things don’t seem quite as promising.
Consider the competition Cleveland faced in those six games. The Cavs beat Washington, Memphis, Sacramento, Detroit, Philadelphia and Orlando. Combined, those six teams have a record of 134-203 and only one (Memphis) is above .500.
The win against the Grizzlies was impressive, even if it came at home, and the same could be said for the solid game at Washington. But the rest of the streak wasn’t much more than beating up on the East’s worst teams. That even success with that favourable a schedule represents a legitimate improvement for Cleveland is something of a silver lining. But it doesn’t make a threat to make any noise in the playoffs—or even make the playoffs at all—as evidence by the team’s return to earth against the Raptors and their blowout loss to the Wizards on Sunday.
Just like their roster, the streak looks good on paper. It may even draw a few more fans into the seats at Quicken Loans Arena. Ultimately, though, it does little to legitimize the Cavaliers or make them seem remotely competitive. And that says a lot in a conference where you can earn a playoff spot with a record that’s three games below .500.