The Cleveland Cavaliers have been struggling this season, especially over the last few weeks. They’ve lost three straight, four out of five, and five of their previous seven games.
Injuries are a significant factor in this. And even though they don’t explain everything that is currently wrong with this team, it’s something that can’t be ignored, according to head coach Kenny Atkinson.
“The healthier we get, the better we’re going to be,” Atkinson said before Monday’s game against the Charlotte Hornets.
“We’ve gone from pretty much the healthiest team in the league to pretty much [the most injured] team in the league. [These are] facts. Sixteen different starting lineups…I believe tied for first in most different starting lineups.”
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The Cavs have only had four games this season where their entire core of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen have all been available. And when they’ve all been on the court together, the team has been quite good, outscoring opponents by 25.9 points per 100 possessions (100th percentile). What you want to make of that sample size is up to you, given they’ve played less than 60 minutes together. Then again, this team’s whole problem is that they can’t stay on the court together.
Additionally, the returning players are still trying to find their form. That goes for Garland, who turned in his best game of the season on Friday. He scored a season-high 35 points and eight assists in the loss to the Chicago Bulls.
“His evolution is to be expected,” Atkinson said about Garland’s recent good game. “[He was] out for four months, no offseason, no training camp. [He] obviously didn’t start the season. The ramp-up has been slow. So we knew there was going to be a runway.”
The ramp-up has indeed been slow. Garland is shooting 49% at the rim (15th percentile) and a career low from three (32.2%). His turnovers are also up from last year, while his assists are down.
“It’s like the quarterback that comes back from that injury,” Atkinson said, “[how he’s moving] is what you’re looking at. The accuracy becomes better as they get healthier. I just give the kid a ton of credit. I think he’s playing through some stuff, and this is part of that injury. But he’s been a soldier. It’s great to see him have a DG game the other night.”
Getting Garland back to his All-Star self would go a long way in helping the Cavs turn it around this season.
It’s easy to get frustrated with this recent stretch for the Cavs. Their losses — especially their latest ones to struggling teams — point to issues that are more than just injury-related. At the same time, it’s understandable that Atkinson is preaching the need for patience.
Even though things have gone about as poorly as one could expect for the Cavaliers this season, they still find themselves one game over .500. They haven’t buried themselves yet in the standings and are more than capable of turning things around.
“When you guys asked me, ‘Well, what kind of grade [would you give for the season], I gave a B,” Atkinson said. “I’m buying this dip because I know what we’ve got coming. And I love our leadership.”
