LeBron sits with knee pain as the Cavs fall to the Hawks
Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James turned 30 years old on Tuesday, a momentous occasion in most adults’ lives. For the four-time MVP and two-time champion, though, this December 30 marks a different kind of transition, not so much a move into full-on adulthood as an opportunity to look back on what he has accomplished as an athlete and wonder if the future holds the same level of success. The Cavs are both struggling to meet lofty expectations and embroiled in a great deal of media controversy. There are reports that first-year head coach David Blatt has lost the attention of the team (if he ever had it) and that LeBron could consider leaving Cleveland as a free agent if things don’t get better. At the very least, everyone around the team agrees that they’re not very good team, including James himself.
It did not help that matters that James opted to sit out his birthday game at the Atlanta Hawks with left knee soreness apparently sustained during a leap into the stands in the Christmas loss to the Miami Heat. James played in the Cavs’ two games since that contest (a nine-point win over Orlando and embarrassing 23-point loss to Detroit), but it appears that the team wanted to hold him out as a precaution. LeBron also missed the team’s December 11 game vs. the Oklahoma City Thunder with similar soreness, so it would seem to make sense not to put too much pressure on the team’s best player.
On the other hand, the context surrounding LeBron’s night off does not do much to help the Cavs’ public image. There are questions as to whether James or Blatt — who had never coached in the NBA in any form before this season — should (or does) hold more decision-making power in the organization, and missing a game on a birthday can cause more skeptical fans to wonder if LeBron sat out just because he didn’t want to play. That belief relies on several assumptions, but we are also at a point with the Cavs where minds may wander as people wonder why things have gone wrong for a team that was expected to lay waste to the Eastern Conference.
Cleveland’s performance vs. Atlanta may hold some insight into those questions, because their play was fairly similar to what’s transpired when LeBron has been a part of lineup. Once again, the offense relied on two players to do most of the damage. Kyrie Irving carried the team with 35 points on 13-of-27 shooting in 43 minutes as Tristan Thompson helped make up for the loss of James with 18 points on 9-of-12 FG and 13 rebounds. Beyond that, almost everyone struggled — Kevin Love continued to occupy the fringes with 1-of-8 shooting in 24 minutes before missing most of the second half with back spasms, Dion Waiters shot 3-of-10 from the field with his usual number of poor decisions, and Mike Miller didn’t even attempt a field goal.
For as one-dimensional as the offense looked, the defense was still the Cavs’ biggest problem. The extremely well-balanced Hawks shot 50.6 percent from the field as five players scored in double figures. Jeff Teague (23 points and 11 assists) and Paul Millsap (26 points, nine rebounds, three blocks, two steals) helped control the game late as the Hawks won 109-101 without a sick Al Horford, their own best player. The Cavs challenged, but it was clear which team defined the terms of the game.
It’s an open question as to how much blame Blatt deserves for the Cavs’ underwhelming 18-13 start, but it’s clear that the optics are not in his favor right now. Certain things, like Blatt getting a nosebleed in a pre-game press conference, are meaningless moments that can gain resonance for those who don’t support him. Yet, no matter if he has a point, claiming moral victories after a third loss in four games is not going to help his case:
It’s much too early to reach complete conclusions regarding Blatt’s fitness for the Cavs’ unique challenge, but we can already begin to see a negative narrative forming. As 2014 closes, things are definitely not going his way.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
