It’s currently not the best of times for LeBron James and the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Following the hard-fought 97-95 loss against the Indiana Pacers Friday night, where they blew an early 22-point lead, the Cavs have now lost eight of their last 11 games. The two previous defeats prior to last night were also frustrating, as both were humiliating blowouts.
Despite that, though, James still doesn’t appear to be panic mode. He even tweeted about the key call against the Pacers, wherein he got called for stepping out of bounds as he drove for a potential go-ahead basket with just five seconds remaining.
James was referring to the controversial ending of the Oklahoma City Thunder-Milwaukee Bucks matchup from weeks back, where Giannis Antetokounmpo clearly had his heels outside the line before driving for a game-winning dunk. The referees did not make a whistle or attempted to review the play. The Bucks won, 97-95 — eerily similar to last night’s score.
In the post-game interviews, though, James still made it known that they knew where they went wrong. Here’s what he told reporters:
“We had a lot of energy in the first half. Third quarter we didn’t exert as much effort as we did in the first half and allowed them to get back into the game”
The Cavs superstar then added that they had plenty of chances, and things just didn’t go their way:
“We got some really good looks. [J.R. SMith] Swish had a three that was a good look… Jose [Calderon] for a wide open three on the left wing, had a great look… I had a left wing three, had an elbow jumper, good looks, just didn’t go down.”
Things have to start going down for the slumping Cavs, because things wouldn’t get easy, particularly in the coming week. They have the Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, and San Antonio Spurs over their next four contests.
