Cleveland’s defense sinks again against Chicago

Times are very hard for Cavaliers Right now. Even more so when so many players are missing to face the Bulls, from Donovan Mitchell to Evan Mobley to Sam Merrill, Larry Nance Jr. and even Max Struss. Result: second straight loss to Chicago.

And after cashing out 127 points on Wednesday nightthis time they conceded by capturing 136 units… Clearly, running into Chicago’s neighbors and their high offensive tempo is not good news for the Ohio troops.

“This style of play hurts us this season”, Kenny Atkinson State. “Obviously it’s something we’re going to have to look at carefully. It’s a little bit like the style of the Eastern Conference right now, with a lot of teams developing like this. We haven’t done the job of slowing them down, not enough anyway.”

Even burdened by an army of absentees, with only ten players on the scoresheet, and booed by the public, the Cavaliers fought as well as they could. This is what the group wants to remember.

“We lost, it didn’t go the way we wanted, but the effort was present throughout the match”insists Jarrett Allen. “We adjusted. Even behind, we didn’t give up. We fought, we tried to get back into the match. It was necessary and this will be a turning point for the team.”

“I liked our camaraderie, our spirit on the bench. The guys who weren’t playing supported the guys who were playing. We didn’t let our heads down.”continues the Cavaliers coach. “Basically, we scored 125 points and that should be enough to win. That’s what’s discouraging.”

The rest of the schedule won’t necessarily offer Cleveland any breathing room, with games against Charlotte and New Orleans easy in theory but could be complicated given their current form. As a reminder, the Cavs lost to the Hornets on Sunday. After? Dangerous journeys to New York, Houston and San Antonio…