LeBron says he's not doing his job, Love says Cavs face must-win
They're only 12 games into what was expected to be a championship season, and yet a November matchup with the lowly Orlando Magic has become a must-win game for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kevin Love said so himself Monday morning.
Losers of four straight, the 5-7 Cavs sit seventh in the early Eastern Conference standings, 2.5 games behind the Central Division-leading Chicago Bulls and 5.5 games behind the East-leading Toronto Raptors.
With 70 games remaining, there's obviously plenty of time for the new-look team to figure things out, but the Cavs' early play has raised some red flags.
An offense that was expected to score at a potential all-time rate is operating as a middle-of-the-pack attack, Kevin Love is being utilized poorly, a lack of rim protection and general defensive malaise has Cleveland currently saddled with the NBA's 26th-ranked D, and even LeBron James has looked off.
James didn't mince words about his own performance when speaking to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
LeBron James on his play right now: "We got a 4-game losing streak so I stink ... I'm not doing my job. I got to do a better job"
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 24, 2014
James's scoring (24.7 PPG), field goal percentage (46.7), rebounding (5.9 RPG) and Player Efficiency Rating (22.6) are at their lowest levels since the king's rookie season, while his defense has left plenty more to be desired.
LeBron is still among the game's best on his worst days - and remains the league's top player at anything even approaching his best - but his underwhelming play, by his standards, is reflected in his on-court impact.
The Cavs are performing one point per 100 possessions better with James on the floor as opposed to on the bench, but that measly +1.0 would represent the lowest on/off rating of James's career, according to Basketball Reference's play-by-play data.
James always expected the Cavs would have to go through a challenging process to get to where they want to be, but it's unlikely he envisioned it being quite this hard.
On Saturday, a night after falling to the Wizards in rather convincing fashion, Cleveland blew an early 18-point lead at home against the Raptors, eventually losing by 17. Afterwards, James called the Cavs a fragile team.
Imagine what he'll have to say if they somehow find a way to lose to Orlando.