Cavs blown out for second time in 3 nights

The reigning NBA champions aren't impervious to defeat, so stringing together back-to-back losses shouldn't be cause for concern, right? It's only December, after all.

This ongoing cold spell for the Cleveland Cavaliers does reveal some chinks in the armor, though, so perhaps it's not as simple as just chalking it up to some early-season struggles.

The Los Angeles Clippers throttled Cleveland on their turf Thursday night in a 113-94 blowout, two days after LeBron James and Co. got decimated by the middle-of-the-pack Milwaukee Bucks, 118-101. The last time a James-led team dropped two consecutive games by 15 or more points was to the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers back in 2012, when The King called South Beach his home.

With the win, the Clippers move to 15-5 on the season, just a few percentage points off the Cavaliers and their 13-4 record. Los Angeles has established itself as a credible threat for the title, so it's not as though Cleveland got their clocks cleaned by a bottom feeder, anyway.

There was no free-flowing offense with crisp, precise passes taking place from the home squad Thursday. The Cavaliers turned the basketball over on 18 occasions (nine combined from James and Kyrie Irving) with a mere 12 assists to their name, compared to the Clippers' 33 dimes and 11 turnovers. In fact, forward Blake Griffin nearly had as many assists himself (11) as Tyronn Lue's entire roster.

That was also the story against the Bucks, losing the ball more often than it was distributed en route to two or three points. It's a clumsy brand of basketball that Cleveland isn't accustomed to playing, coming off a 2015-16 campaign where they ranked 13th in assists and 10th in turnovers.

Their 41.7 field-goal percentage is also disheartening, though solace can be taken in the fact that the Clippers boast the Association's second-ranked defense, while the Bucks aren't slouches themselves at 12th.

If the Cavs are back competing for the Larry O'Brien trophy in June, a skid such as this will be remembered as a mere blip on the radar. James is still playing at an elite level, Irving always needs to be accounted for on offense, and Kevin Love appears reinvigorated with his strongest numbers since arriving in Ohio.

Cleveland's next three games won't be a cakewalk, with road meetings against the Chicago Bulls, Toronto Raptors, and New York Knicks all on the horizon. There's no reason to panic just yet, but there are certainly plenty of reasons to shake your head and expect better from the crown jewel of the Eastern Conference.