The Cleveland Cavaliers suffered another setback, causing LeBron James to give a frank assessment of his team following an embarrassing 103-80 thrashing at the hands of the lowly Detroit Pistons.
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“We’re not a very good team, as far as on the court, where we’re still trying to find our way,” said James.
“Right now we’re just not very good in every aspect of the game that we need to be to compete every night.”
Detroit came into the game with the fourth-worst record in the league, but dismantled the Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena, causing home fans to boo their team. Cleveland shot 37.8 per cent from the field and just 5-of-29 from long range.
James himself struggled on the night with his game-high seven turnovers and 5-of-19 shooting overshadowing his 17 points, 10
rebounds and seven assists.
Cleveland appeared to be headed to their fifth win in six games when they took a 28-17 lead at the end of the first, but the wheels fell off as the Pistons breezed 86-52 in the final three quarters to seal victory.
“It seems like when we take these losses, we have a great first quarter and we get a little lax and teams start putting it on us,” James said.
Cavaliers coach David Blatt added: “I think when you do build leads early on like we have, it shows that you’re coming prepared, that you’re ready to play, that you’re ready for the other team.
“But when you’re losing those leads, it also shows that we’re not putting our foot down on our opponent and taking them out.
“That’s a skill, too, to understand that you can’t give people the opportunity in this league just to get out and play freely because you have a lead.”
Though Cleveland lagged on both ends of the court against Detroit, defence has been a cause for concern all season.
The Pistons hit a franchise record 17 shots from beyond arc and their 103 points was well above their average of 95.2 points per
game heading into the contest.
In their 12 losses this season, the Cavaliers have allowed opponents to score at a 104.2 clip with shooting marks of 49 per cent from the field and 40 per cent on 3-pointers.
Cleveland are also dealing with injuries to key players. Centre Anderson Varejao is out for the season with an achilles tear and point guard Kyrie Irving has missed the past two games due to a knee injury.
Cavaliers head on the road looking to rebound against the Atlanta Hawks (tonight: 03:30).