LeBron, Cavs eager to ‘turn this thing around’
Going into Friday’s game, Cleveland had lost four in row.
The Cavaliers WASHINGTON — are struggling, you may have heard.
LeBron James is aware of this.
“We’re definitely struggling right now, which is OK,” James said Friday, hours before the Cavs’ next game against the Washington Wizards. “I felt that we would struggle at some point throughout the season. I think it’s surprising to all of us that it’s happening right now, but, hey, it is what it is, and it’s exciting to see how we can turn this thing around.”
The Cavs have lost four straight and five of six. They are the worst team in the NBA defensively, and they’ve dropped games during this losing streak by a combined 63 points. It’s the worst fourgame point differential of James’ career, though he said it doesn’t feel quite that bad.
“My rookie year, I don’t know how many games we won or lost in a row, but there was really no bright spots or saying we’re going to make the playoffs or we’re going to compete for a championship,” James said. “Or my first year in Miami where we had a six-game homestand, I believe, and we went 1-5. And feel like the whole world was caving in on us from the outside, so, nah. This definitely doesn’t feel like that.”
Barring injury or something otherwise unforeseen, James will become the seventh player to score 29,000 points for his career. He needs eight points and has scored at least 10 in 799 consecutive regular-season games.
James wasn’t asked Friday about his coming milestone, mostly because his team is a mess right now. But having gone to seven straight Finals and this being the beginning of November in a season that doesn’t end until April, one can see why James is maintaining perspective on this poor start.
James said he was unaware of Dwyane Wade’s comments from Thursday, in which his friend and current and former teammate compared this Cavs’ season to James’ last in Miami in which the Heat reached the Finals for the fourth straight year.
Wade said “I don’t know how we made it” to that last Finals because staleness had set in on the Heat.
James said, “I don’t think it’s a staleness because we have so many fresh, new faces,” but acknowledged the possibility of complacency among the seven Cavs players who’ve gone to anywhere from the last one to three Finals.
James has reached the last seven.
“I think that it’s going to be challenging on the guys that’s been here the last few years to continue to try to motivate themselves to want to get back to the Finals,” James said. “That’s always the challenging thing. When you’ve done it three straight years, or some guys two straight years, then complacency can sometimes creep in, or the short summers or things of that nature, or you feel like you can turn it on when you want to. Gotta figure out a way to motivate yourself to get back to that top level of game.
“I know where my mind is; I’ve done it seven straight years, so I know how to get back into the flow of things. I know how to mentally prepare myself for a long haul, so it’s going to be challenging, but I think we should be up for it.”
Also, James said, the Cavs “still have a 30-point scorer, All-Star point guard that’s coming soon, so. That’s exciting.”
He meant Isaiah Thomas, who is out at least another month recovering from a hip injury.