“Our mindset has to change — what we’re really playing for.” Tyronn Lue
CLEVELAND – The Rockets-Cavs duel in Cleveland was expected to be a grind match. It certainly didn’t turn out that way. The Rockets outscored the Cavs in every quarter and limited them to only 88 total points in a 120-88 blowout win last Saturday night.
It was a Rockets show. All of Houston’s starters scored in double figures, the duo of Paul and Harden produced 20 assists, and the team drained 19 3-pointers.
Courtesy: RealSport
“I’m lost for words,” James said afterward. “They should take us off every nationally televised game for the rest of the season,” he continued, speaking softly with a baseball cap pulled over his eyes. “We haven’t played well at all and we get our butts kicked every time we play on national television.”
He’s right, too. Since losing at Golden State on Christmas Day, James and his teammates are 0-8 in network broadcasts. They lost by 28 at Minnesota, by 34 in Toronto, by 24 at home to Oklahoma City, and by 32 to the Rockets.
With the trade deadline looming on Thursday, the question now is whether the Cavs will explore options to rebuild. But the team hasn’t made any noise in that regard. The only chatter is about issues with chemistry issues and having played in “tough games.” But they are in a tough situation and need to get back on track quickly.
“Our mindset has to change — what we’re really playing for,” Tyronn Lue said. “Are we playing to win or are we playing to look good? We have to be tougher. When things get tough we have to be tougher.”
The good news is that the Cavs still hold down the 3rd spot in the East.
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All data updated as of February 5, 2018 with sources from ESPN, Basketball-Reference.com, Rotoworld.com.
