After a stretch that saw the Cleveland Cavaliers win 18 of 19 games, they now seem stuck in an uninspired and sluggish pace. The effort they displayed on Monday night’s 127-99 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves was a prime example. The Cavs can’t get anything going offensively and defensively all game long, and it also didn’t look like they were trying to.
As a result, they got man-handled by a younger and hungrier team. The 28-point trashing was the Cavs’ worst defeat of the season and it also snapped the franchise’s seven-game winning streak against the Timberwolves.
It was simply a night to forget, especially for LeBron James. His -39 plus-minus rating was the worst of his 15-year career and his 10-point output was his lowest in more than a decade.
When asked about the abysmal performance, though, James let everyone know that he’s not bothered. Here’s what he told Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com:
“I don’t care about no d— plus-minus,”
“I’ve won a game and had a bad plus-minus before so what does that matter. I don’t give a d— about no d— plus-minus.”
With the Cavs being very mediocre in the past couple of weeks, James should give a “you-know-what.” Three of his co-starters also had an awful plus-minus last night — Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and Jae Crowder were -30 or lower. Isaiah Thomas was at -20, but if he didn’t get ejected, he would have likely had a similar fate. To top if all off, their quintet shot a combined 10-for-38 from the floor (26.9 percent), and James was the only one to reach double figures.
The Cavs should be able to regain their footing in the coming games, but their next three opponents (Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers, and Golden State Warriors) will all present certain challenges.
