CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) - Ever since the Cavaliers scored those back-to-back victories against East-contending Brooklyn in late January, their season has taken a nosedive over the last 12 games.
Of those twelve games, ten of them have ended in defeat for Cleveland, with the team losing their last six contests. None of these games have seen the Cavs hold their opponent to below 100 points - in fact, six of the twelve games have featured the defense give up at least 120 in scoring.
Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said in Sunday afternoon's teleconference that his team is going through a tough stretch - against good competition, to boot.
"We understand that we have not played our best basketball against really good teams, so if you have that mindset, it gives you an opportunity to go out and improve...and be better, and that's where we are right now."
Indeed, since their victories over the Nets, the Cavs have squared off with three Eastern Conference foes (Celtics, Knicks, Bucks) that would qualify for the playoffs if the regular season ended today. Their Western Conference opponents - the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets, and Portland Trail Blazers - have made the recent stretch more difficult, with road trips to Golden State and San Antonio in the coming week only adding to the workload.
STARTING STRONG
Slow starts to games have plagued the Cavaliers recently. One case would be their 129-110 loss in Portland last Friday night, which saw the Trail Blazers jump out to a 22-4 lead early in the opening quarter.
Cavs guard Darius Garland was asked Sunday what the team needed to do to keep themselves in the game early.
"Just try to compete and best as we can for the first six minutes," said Garland, "and hopefully that just leads onto the next [group of guys] that's coming into the game."
NO CRACKDOWN
Despite the recent run of defeats, the Cavaliers are still trying to keep together and grow through the process, according to their head coach.
"We haven't splintered or fractured," said Bickerstaff, "and so we're looking forward to another tough challenge."
That challenge comes at the STAPLES Center on Valentine's Day against the Los Angeles Clippers, who beat the Cavs 121-99 in Cleveland back on Feb. 3.
In the previous matchup between the two teams, Leonard totaled 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting, along with six rebounds and three assists. George shouldered most of L.A.'s offense with a game-high 36 points.
For the Cavs, Sexton (27 points) and Garland (23) handled the offense.
