The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t have that same fire that they had last season when they were going on ridiculous win streaks and were one of the best teams in the league. This season, injuries have hurt them, but they also have not been playing well. In an attempt to change that, the Cavs made a move and took De’Andre Hunter out of the starting lineup.
Hunter had been the starter all season with Max Strus still recovering from injury, but it looks like the move had not been working as well as they thought it would. In the past few games, Hunter has scored in single digits several times, and it was time for a change. The Cavs put the plan in place against the Chicago Bulls and inserted Jaylon Tyson in the starting lineup.
It worked out well in the first quarter, as the Cavs went up 28-16. From there, the Cavs reverted back to their ways of most of this season, and the Bulls came back to win in the end, 127-111.
With the loss, the Cavs are now 15-13 and are No. 9 in the Eastern Conference. This could seem like a time where the Cavs could put their heads down, but Donovan Mitchell won’t let them do that.
“Just stick with it,” Mitchel said after the game. “Yes, it’s frustrating. It sucks. But at the end of the day, what are you gonna do, feel bad? You know what I mean? It’s December 17. What are we gonna do, call it in right now? Keep going. Keep doing it. And some of it too is we’re not making shots. It’s tough. We’re getting great looks, and we have a lot of really, really good shooters. Sometimes, that’s just how it goes for a little bit, you know what I mean? That’s to no fault. Sometimes, you’re just in a rut. You’ve kinda got to accept it.”
The Cavs have the team that is able to fight through adversity, and they should be able to find a way out of this slump they’re in.