No, the sky isn't falling, as Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson said on Sunday, but it is starting to descend. One-fourth of the way into the 2025-26 NBA season, the wine and gold look like pretenders, not contenders, further fueling their loudest critics' fire with a 12-9 record. Suffering an all-too-familiar-feeling loss for the third straight time, Cavs sophomore swingman Jaylon Tyson said the quiet part out loud.
“I just think we're in cruise control,” Tyson candidly told reporters multiple times postgame in the locker room.
Though it's admirable that a second-year player who's played in 67 total career games is willing to use his voice to right the ship, he shouldn't be the one publicly falling on the proverbial sword. Cleveland's front-of-rotation guys need to face the music after these losses, but I suppose relying on inexperienced players to come to the rescue also happens in media appearances.
Despite owing little to the public, Sunday was one of the first times this year Donovan Mitchell hadn't bitten the bullet to address the situation. Whether it's because he didn't want to repeat himself, he wanted to cool down before saying something he'd regret, or he wanted to simply skip a day, it's a red flag no matter which way you spin it. And while Darius Garland may not want to field questions about his toe discomfort amid his annoyance with the setback, it would help explain certain inconsistencies and provide some transparency.
De'Andre Hunter got his ankle rolled up on while midway through the fourth quarter, so he wasn't around to answer for his team-worst minus-31 on the stat sheet. At least Evan Mobley, who's not-so-quietly put together his best two-game stretch of the young season, stood in front of the cameras after a 27-point, 14-rebound performance.
“Everyone wants to be better, everyone wants to win, everyone wants to be the best we can be, but right now, we're not,” Mobley said. “And so. we've got to find a way on how we're going to fix that. Frustration might help, honestly, a little bit.”
It's hard not to concur with Mobley's assessment. The worst thing a basketball team can do is become complacent and accept the status quo. Internal strife is often viewed in a negative light from the outside looking in because of conflict, but to get better, you have to get real. Taking nothing away from what they've accomplished — because it has been a joy to watch — Tyson, Craig Porter Jr., Nae'Qwan Tomlin, and Tyrese Proctor shouldn't be the saviors for experienced, proven talents that know better.
The fact of the matter is, the Cavs are treating the regular season with little respect. Echoing the words of their staunchest supporters, they're “too cool” to play hard, as if they're saving it for five months from now. How is it that the guys who were skewered for an entire summer haven't learned by now? Moreover, how is it that the new guard understands that concept more than those who've been a part of this one-year-away-from-being-one-year-away Cleveland core?
And, predictably, that half-in, half-out mindset is infecting who they are as a team at the heart of it all. For a process-over-results-oriented organization, what happens if you're seeing neither? It becomes your identity, and that's the last thing it wants to happen with everything that's been built and sacrificed to get to this point. Bad habits are easier to create than good ones. Experimentation is necessary; too much of it can stray away from your strengths.
Inundating this column with statistics won't do anything but ball up a fist of anger, but just know that the shot selection has been subpar. Mitchell putting up video-game numbers in an MVP race looks nice on the stat sheet, yet it indicates an overreliance on his scoring. Playing against fast-paced opponents, misses are leading to back-iron, bouncing-rebound opportunities that the wine-and-gold just haven't wanted enough. The Cavs get caught ball-watching on both ends, or even when trying to secure a loose ball, are a step too late because of hesitation or the assumption that another guy will retrieve it.
When you go scoreless for three-and-a-half minutes to close a half, it's tough to get lower. When you don't record a single board for nearly four minutes coming out of the locker room in the very next quarter, it's tough to get lower. When you have numbers in the open floor after a defensive stop, and only two guys run the floor in transition, it's tough to get lower. When you have heads dropping and are searching for someone to figure it out for you, it's tough to get any lower. The Celtics were on the second night of a back-to-back, while Cleveland had a day of rest in between. And on Friday, in Atlanta, the Cavs hadn't played for three days.
So, maybe Sunday will have been the straw that broke the camel's back. After all, the calendar reads December 1, and the league lasts until mid-June. Cleveland's also been playing down at least three to four rotational pieces every game, which doesn't help matters. Several players have also played through ailments to be there for their teammates.
However, that doesn't factor into team-wide hustle and effort, nor does it affect covering ground for your fellow man or being well-conditioned overall. Can anybody tell me the last time free-throw percentage was injury-related? Has anyone considered the possibility that Cleveland might not get fully healthy, and even if it does, will be forced to reacclimate shelved players on the fly and scale down current rotation players' minutes?
Coaches have to brace for every possibility, and Atkinson is just as culpable for the early-season failures as those who have been playing.
There won't be a perfect scenario, no matter how they slice it.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have always responded in the face of adversity
The Cavs have earned a great deal of my respect with the kind of people they have in the building, from the front office down to the coaching staff and players. They're loaded with terrific basketball minds behind the scenes and one-of-a-kind talents on the court. They're not the same exact team by any means, but shades of last year are in there.
Perhaps I'm drinking the Kool-Aid because I believe that who a team is in the winter may completely differentiate from who it is in the spring. Many disagree with my steadfast viewpoint that the Cavs will make the Eastern Conference Finals, and I can't blame them, as this current version of Cleveland would be lucky to be above the Play-In Tournament. (If that last sentence doesn't light a fire under the squad, I don't know what will.)
With that said, knowing what the Cavs have been through, and among the outside noise, there will be a response, and it will be loud. A bad month shouldn't, and won't, define them. This isn't some completely untenable matter; it will become one if they don't snap out of it.
If the truth is too difficult to face, and the priority is to keep a comfortable environment, then the issues go deeper than what we're seeing on the surface.
Fortunately, the Cavs have a locker room with guys who won't allow that to happen.
