If the NBA Playoffs were starting next weekend, LeBron James can easily picture the Cleveland Cavaliers being sent home early.
James, speaking to reporters Saturday following a humiliating 148-124 loss to the visiting OKC Thunder, said the Cavs need to fix their issues before they can start thinking about the postseason.
New story: The Cavs are searching for answers, but the key to ending their slump — at least according to the players — does not include parting ways with Ty Lue https://t.co/8LM13mYtaY
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 21, 2018
Cleveland’s horrific defensive effort was especially galling for LeBron.
Per ESPN:
“Playoffs? We can’t even start thinking about that, not the way we’re playing right now,” James said. “We could easily get bounced early in the playoffs if they started next weekend. Haven’t even began thinking about the postseason.”
What James was thinking about was the Cavaliers’ defensive effort, the likes of which, he says, he never has seen.
“I’ve never in my basketball life gave up 148 points, not even probably playing video games,” James said. “They got everything that they wanted. Inside, outside — they had it moving. … It’s just a really bad, really bad loss on our part.”
When James was asked to identify the No. 1 problem facing Cleveland, all he could do was chuckle at his team’s predicament.
“That’s way too hard,” James said. “We got a lot of things going on. It’s not 1, it’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. We got some searching to figure out how we can be better.”
