At present, the Cleveland Cavaliers are sitting in eighth place in the Eastern Conference standings with a 20-17 record; they are one loss away from tying their total for the entirety of the 2024-25 campaign, and they have arguably been the most disappointing team in the NBA this season. And their lack of bench production may be the most to blame for their steep decline from last season.
As Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com pointed out, the Cavs have the league’s worst net rating in the second quarter, with opponents outscoring them by 14.4 points per 100 possessions during that pitiful 12-minute stretch.
This is the quarter where the Cavs bring most of their reserves in, which suggests a huge correlation between bench minutes and a precipitous downfall in their quality of play; Atkinson even admitted that “the bench play hurt” them during their 114-110 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.
This is leaving Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson in a tough predicament in terms of shuffling his rotation, although he is thinking of a clear way to mitigate the damage the bench is causing the team.
“Maybe we keep two of our stars out there at the same time. We’ve gotta help them,” Atkinson said.
Positive regression could be coming for the Cavs
Ken Blaze-Imagn Images
The Cavs’ decision to trade Isaac Okoro for Lonzo Ball to replace Ty Jerome as the floor general to lead the bench unit did not work. It’s been difficult as well for the Cavs amid Max Strus’ injury, as this has forced the likes of Sam Merrill, De’Andre Hunter, and Dean Wade into larger roles that have made it difficult for the bench to keep leads for Cleveland.
Nevertheless, the Cavs didn’t magically become a bad team overnight. The key pieces of their 64-win squad are still there, which suggests that some positive regression could be coming — so long as Atkinson figures out which lineup combinations work best.