CLEVELAND -- Atop the Eastern Conference and Central Division standings for most of the regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers have learned that with success comes challenges, namely in the form of competition from every other team trying to chase the leaders.
But every once in a while, the Cavaliers (52-21) need a reminder of just how much people want their spot, and the latest came against the Brooklyn Nets last Thursday, when Cleveland suffered a 104-95 loss at the Barclays Center.
“Every team, no matter if a team’s in the playoff picture or their season’s coming to an end, those guys over there, they’re trying out,” center Tristan Thompson said. “They’re trying to get the next contract, trying to stay on the team, so we’re going to get every team’s best punch. We’ve got to know that coming in and we’ve just got to be ready to compete.”
The Cavaliers dominated play in the third quarter against the Nets, but they mustered just 12 points over the final 12 minutes of action, and that led to a 104-95 loss to Brooklyn (21-52) on the second night of a home-and-away back-to-back.
Despite LeBron James scoring 30 points, none of which came in the final period, and making 13 of his 16 attempts from the field in the game, the Cavaliers made just four of their 21 shots and three of their 13 three-pointers in the fourth quarter.
The Nets outscored the Cavaliers, 18-0, in the paint and 6-5 in second-chance points during the final quarter.
“We had some good looks and just didn’t knock them down,” Thompson said. “We’ve just got to look back at the film and be ready to play every night.
“We had good looks. We had great looks. Our shooters had great looks. J.R., Shump, Channing, they all had great looks, and some nights, it just doesn’t fall down. We’ve got to do a better job of grabbing offensive boards, me and Timo and K-Love have got to stay active, and if guys are missing shots, we’ve just got to give them opportunities to get a second chance.”
James added, “I don’t think we started the game with a lot of energy. I think we expended a lot coming back in that third quarter to try and get back into the game, which we did, and then, we had a rough start to the fourth quarter. We kind of gave them momentum back, so I don’t know if it’s taking them lightly or just our approach, but we definitely didn’t have the right approach.”
After dispatching of the New York Knicks, 107-93, on Saturday night, the Cavaliers returned home in the early morning hours of Sunday, and had two days without a game ahead of tonight’s matchup with the Houston Rockets at Quicken Loans Arena.
After playing the Rockets, the Cavaliers welcome the Nets to Cleveland Thursday and hit the road to play the Atlanta Hawks Friday and the Charlotte Hornets at home Sunday.
Currently, the Cavaliers hold a three-game lead over the Toronto Raptors for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference standings with nine games left on their schedule, and Thompson knows Cleveland must continue on the winning track in order to better prepare for the postseason, which begin in just under three weeks.
“You’ve got to take steps forward,” Thompson said. “Like LeBron said too, he felt we took a step back and I agree. We’ve got to take some steps forward because we’ve got 10 games left and you know what happens.”
