Already surprised by their blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday, Cleveland Cavaliers fans were even more shocked when the Cavs once again lost by a big margin to the Toronto Raptors — a team missing the services of Kyle Lowry. The final score was 133-99, and even though LeBron James led the scoring attack for the Cavs, his +/- rating was just awful.
After finishing the game against the Timberwolves with a -39, James did improve in this category versus the Raptors. However, it was way insufficient as he only was a -22, putting the four time MVP at a new low point in his career.
Beyond James’ poor +/- ratings, the Cavs have also failed to receive consistent scoring from their bench which has added to their woes as of late. Cleveland has now lost seven of their last ten outings, falling to third place in the Eastern Conference.
If there’s any good news for the Cavs at this point, they have never been at full strength yet, so they could be given the benefit of the doubt on this one. However, if they plan to live up to expectations and once again contend for the championship, it will be important to get their act together and end the regular season on a high note.
The Raptors have been playing at a different level as of late, led by the inspired play of shooting guard DeMar DeRozan, even prior to their win against the Cavs. They still have two more matchups against LeBron James and company.