Last night, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in San Antonio for a nationally-televised matchup against the Spurs, resulting in an embarrassing 103-74 blowout loss for the road-bound Cavs.
Cleveland just couldn’t get it going from the perimeter last night and really struggled on the defensive end of the floor. Through the first half, the Cavs were 2-of-15 from beyond the three-point line and trailed by 24 points, 64-40. Their poor shooting continued into the second half, as they finished the game with a 4-of-26 mark from downtown — that’s 15.4 percent for all of our great mathematician readers.
Kyrie Irving struggled with his shot against the Spurs. Normally, “Uncle Drew,” as Irving is known, is accurate from just about anywhere on the floor. Last night, however, he recorded just eight points (4-of-13 FG, 0-of-2 3PFG), three rebounds, two assists and did not play in the fourth quarter.
Long after last night’s game, a frustrated but determined Irving was in the gym practicing his shot.
There are nine games remaining in the regular season. With last night’s loss to the Spurs (57-16), the Cavs (47-26) are now 0.5 games behind the Boston Celtics (48-26) in the Eastern Conference standings. The Washington Wizards (45-28) continue to hold the third position in the East, currently lurking just 2.5 games out of first place. As you can see, the battle for the Eastern Conference crown is heating up.
It’s true that this has been a rough year for the defending champions, but they’ll make no excuses. A cohesive, healthy team will be paramount to their postseason success.