Sloppy offense leads to third straight loss for Cleveland

With their poorest offensive performs of the year, the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-6) drop their third straight game, falling to the Washington Wizards (8-3) on the road 91-78.

Credit goes to the Wizards, who were able to hold the league's second-best offense to a minuscule 78 points, thanks in part to the 19 turnovers they forced. Most of them were due to their backcourt duo of John Wall and Bradley Beal, who combined for seven steals, but the rest was more self-inflicted by the Cavaliers. Multiple times throughout the game, Cleveland had fast break opportunities ruined by bad passes and miscommunication. In the first quarter, Anderson Varejao tried to play point guard on a two-on-one fast break with LeBron James, but made a bad pass leading to a turnover and two points for Washington on the other end. Washington was able to capitalize all night on Cleveland's miscues, scoring 24 points off of turnovers.

When the Cavs didn't turnover the ball over, they still made bad decisions shooting the ball, making only 36.0 percent of their shots tonight. Ball movement, which is a staple of head coach David Blatt's offense, was as nonexistent as it has been all season. The Cavs finished with 13 assists, and ended way too many possessions with zero passes or one-on-one isolation. Plenty of shots were taken with at least 15 seconds on the shot clock, most of them coming from LeBron. If the offense wants to be as good as they can be, they must eliminate these mistakes.

This is more than just losing games for the Cavs right now, as it seems that LeBron's message isn't getting across to everyone. Communication is mum, both on AND off the court, leading to problems that could easily be avoided. It's early, but if things don't change quickly, it will be long season in Cleveland.

Oh, and if things weren't as bad as they were now, the Cavs play the best team in the Eastern Conference tomorrow. But hey, all it takes is a few wins and this will all go away.

Three Things

1. LeBron is not helping.

Well, his play is (kind of), but his body language is definitely not. More times than not, he looks disgruntled and it's been rubbing off on his teammates, specifically to Kevin Love. At times, him and LeBron look as if they don't want to even share the court together. Look, LeBron knew it would take time for this team to gel, and even said that in his letter announcing his return to Cleveland. He shouldn't be the guy being frustrated, he should the guy be trying to calm everyone down when something goes wrong, and not making comments as if he is surprised at the situation the Cavs are in. Leaders are supposed to set good examples for others, not compound an issue when it arises. If and when things start to change in Cleveland, it will begin with LeBron showing the leadership he learned from Dwyane Wade and Pat Riley.

2. It's hard to be good when your bench isn't.

Just as important as having two or three star players are in order to win a championship, you need two or three bench players that can come in and make an impact on the game when the starters need a rest. Right now, there is no one on the Cavs bench that has constantly played well. Waiters and Thompson were supposed to be the go-to guys off the bench, but their play has been spotty to say the least. Joe Harris showed signs earlier, but since the Atlanta game his play has fell off. Mike Miller has been the Jason Giambi of this team: the old veteran who is more of a locker room guy than anything, and only does the one thing he does well good every once in awhile. There's plenty of time in the season for these guys to step up, but right now, it's gonna be hard for them to win games with no bench production.

3. Dear NBA Gods, let Varejao stay healthy.

You're not technically an NBA writer/blogger if you have not yet talked about the Cavs defense or lack of interior depth. Flat out, they're not good at defense, and no matter how much better they get, they're ceiling is no higher than 15th in defensive rating. As of now, Varejao has been the Cavs best interior defender while also providing some spark on the offensive end. I'm not a fan of him taking 10 shots in three quarters (as he did tonight), but he can score when given an open shot. If Varejao goes down, you're looking at Haywood as your backup big (barring any trades) with Thompson as the starting center. As bad as things have went so far, the last thing the Cavs need is for the Brazilian big man to go down with an injury.

Statline of the night: John Wall. 28 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals. 12-of-20 shooting.

I noted in the preview that Wall was one of the best two-way guards in the league, and he definitely showed that tonight. He was unstoppable on offense, but even more impressive on defensive, snagging four steals in what would be a turnover fest for Cleveland.

What's next: Nov. 22, at home against the Toronto Raptors. 7:30 p.m.

Cleveland Cavaliers use fast start to rout Atlanta Hawks, 127-94

The Cleveland Cavaliers struggled to get anything going for much of their last game against the Celtics on Friday night, but on Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks, it was a completely different story.

The Cavs (5-3) made their first 11 three-point attempts of the night, including nine in the first quarter (the first team in history to make their first nine threes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau), and used the hot hands of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving to dispatch the Hawks (5-4) for their fourth straight win of the season. James had 32 points, 6 rebounds, and 7 assists on the night, while Irving contributed 20 points, 5 assists, and three steals.

After a rough start to the season, it seems like the team and its stars are starting to gel more and more, which is bad news for the rest of the NBA. The 33-point win over Atlanta on Saturday should help bring momentum for the next seven games, six of which are at home.

Three Things

1. LeBron is back to being LeBron
It was only a matter of time, right? LeBron James has been playing at his other-worldly level for the past couple of games, and the Cavaliers are taking advantage of it. In his past three games, James has averaged no less than 30 points each contest and no less than 7 assists. After opening the season extremely passive, it seems James has had enough and has gone full MVP mode. He's narrowly missed a triple-double a few times this year already and is already back to dunking and sending Kent Bazemore shots away with authority.

2. First complete game by the Cavaliers
The offense can be the best in the league, but if David Blatt's squad doesn't defend anyone, they most likely won't be the team holding up the hardware at the end of the season. Saturday, the Cavs turned in their first complete game of the season, lighting up the scoreboard but also shutting down the Hawks' offense for much of the night, holding Atlanta to 94 points en route to a 33-point victory. With much of the criticism coming at Cleveland for their lackadaisical defense, it was nice to see that it is, in fact, possible for this team to turn it up defensively.

3. Smokin' Joe better than advertised.
Could Joe Harris be the steal of the 2014 NBA Draft? The rookie shooting guard has performed exceptionally well (dare I say...Delly-esque?) in his filling in for the injured Matthew Dellavedova, and has even been playing over Dion Waiters in crunch time. Harris was at his best on Saturday, putting up 12 points (4-5 from three-point range) and 4 rebounds, along with 4 assists.

Statline of the night: LeBron James. 32 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block.

Could it have been anyone else? LeBron played great once again and deserves the honors, though point guard Kyrie Irving helped dismantle the Hawks as well (hi Jeff Teague).

What's next: Nov. 17, at home against the Denver Nuggets, 7 p.m.

LeBron's monster performance makes it three straight for Cleveland

(Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images)

Despite a 19-point deficit, the Cleveland Cavaliers battled back in the fourth quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics 122-121, giving them three straight wins after a 1-3 start.

The theme of the Cavs three-game winning streak resolves around No. 23, and his return to unstoppable force we have seen over the last few years. Since tweeting out the famed "R-E-L-A-X" statement that was made famous by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, LeBron has averaged 32 points per game, including a monstrous 41 points tonight.

Dominating the Celtics is nothing new for LeBron; his 30.1 points per game against Boston is the highest he has averaged against a single team.

We talked about the point guard battle in the preview and it quietly was a good matchup. Although LeBron was the main factor in the game, both Kyrie Irving and Rajon Rondo had good games tonight. Irving had 27 points, including 15 points in the fourth quarter, which was a big part of the Cavs 17-point comeback in the fourth quarter. As for Rondo, he did everything tonight but score the basketball. He had 16 assists, eight rebounds and three steals.

As a team, the Celtics continued their sharing of the wealth. The C's had seven guys in double figures tonight and finished with 32 assists. The glass was won by the Cavaliers, out-rebounding the Celtics 49-46. Leading the way for the Cavs was Kevin Love, who, despite shooting 2-of-12 from the field, finished with a game-high 15 rebounds. 

Looking ahead, the Cavs have a very favorable schedule coming up. Eight of their next nine games are at home, including games against the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors. Their lone road game during that stretch comes against the Washington Wizards. With this team slowly starting to find their rhythm, expect the Cavs to start their hot streak heading into to December.

Three Things

1. Playoff LeBron showed up tonight.

Isn't it weird what a few weeks will do to you? Super small sample size "writers" questioned whether LeBron was not the same player he was last year, leading to some extremely hot takes. Well, save for opening night (excused) and Portland, LeBron has been a humongous reason why the Cavs have won four games this year. Especially tonight, where his 41 points and stellar defense in the fourth quarter won this game for Cleveland. Him guarding Rondo in the fourth is something we normally see come playoff time. Do not expect this every game from The King, but you will see it when it is needed.

2. *copy, paste* Defense..

Defense has been talked about in every game, with tonight being the epitome of how bad they have looked all year. The Cavs gave up ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE POINTS tonight, and needed an ungodly-like performance from LeBron to come away with a victory tonight. The Celtics did have the seventh-best offensive in the NBA coming into tonight's game, but any time you give up 121 points to any team is cause for concern. Through seven games, the Cavs have given up at least 100 points in six of their games. With the offense beginning to click, if they can figure out ANYTHING on the other end, they will be a very dangerous team.

3. Can Joe Harris get some more minutes?

There are very few guys on the Cavs that can play defense; one of them being Smokin' Joe Harris. In a game where just a few defensive stops turned the game around, why was Harris not in the game sooner? His plus-minus in tonight's game was plus-24, a ridiculous number. Part of that number had to do with LeBron and Kyrie's incredible fourth quarters, but Harris hit one shot tonight, a corner three-pointer, a played good defense down the stretch when the Cavs needed it. If he continues to play solid defense (which the Cavs need) and hits his open jumpers, head coach David Blatt would be wrong not to give hom more playing time.

Statline of the night: LeBron James. 41 points, four rebounds, seven assists. 16-27 from the field.

Is there anymore that needs to be said about his performance tonight? He single-handily won this game for the Cavs tonight and has shown that he is not regressing any time soon.

What's next: Nov. 15, at home against the Atlanta Hawks. 7:30 p.m.