CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – A week before the All-Star break the Cavaliers were the toast of the NBA, third in the Eastern Conference and a game out of the top seed.
As the injuries continue to pile up, they’ve been in a freefall ever since.
Six weeks later, the Cavs are just trying to hang on to a spot in the Play-In tournament.
“We’re determined and ready to go,” Bickerstaff said. “Guys understand what it takes and what is necessary but there’s no feeling sorry for ourselves.”
Monday, Cleveland announced forward Dean Wade, who missed the previous seven games dating back to March 14th, underwent successful surgery on the meniscus in his right knee costing him the rest of the season.
“He’s doing OK,” Bickerstaff said. “It’s tough. We miss our guys. We miss Jarrett; we miss Dean – not just them as basketball players but them as people and teammates and you’re so accustomed to seeing them every single day that their personalities, their jokes, all of those things – we miss those guys. We miss what they brig to the floor, obviously but we’ve got to figure out [with] the guys we got, how to get it done and we’re confident in the group that they are capable.”
All-Star center Jarrett Allen remains sidelined with a broken finger and veteran guard Rajon Rondo is still out with a right ankle sprain.
The injuries and the struggles that have started to set in as a result of them has started to seep the joy from the young Cavaliers that they came known to play with.
“We have to be ourselves no matter what the circumstances are,” Bickerstaff said.
Following the debut of Caris LeVert, jus acquired from Indiana, the Cavs were 34-21 on February 10. Since then, they are 7-12 entering Monday night’s game against Orlando causing them to fall to seventh in the East and to the Play-In field.
“No one is at their best when they’re overthinking or putting too much pressure on themselves where instead of reacting everything is a thought and then a reaction,” Bickerstaff said. “These guys have great basketball instincts. They’re really good basketball players. They are a really good team when we’re playing with that freedom and confidence and that belief.
Outside circumstances sometimes put that on you but all of us are better when we’re clear in the mind and playing with that freedom.”
Bickerstaff admitted that he’s felt his team pressing a bit.
“It’s the magnitude of the moment and the experience level of the guys that have been in that moment. If you never go through it, you can’t explain it. You can’t describe it. You can’t feel it, so you have to go through it. It’s one of those things where you have to take some lumps. Every team that’s made the shift from where we were to previous to good team to great team – obviously if you don’t just go out and bring in a bunch of free agents – you go through those things. It hurts, it’s painful but for all of us, some of our greatest lessons have been learned through those pains.”