Wine and Fool’s Gold?
_**Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) shoots as Orlando Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. (34) defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 16, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)**_
Every team in the NBA has an 82-game season. A team losing a game doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Even losing two back-to-back wouldn’t derail a team’s momentum during the season. The same could be said for losing three in a row, right?
On March 19, 2025, we all witnessed something rare happen; the Cleveland Cavaliers lost a game. The Cavs fell to the Orlando Magic 108-103, snapping a 16-game win streak. It had to happen sooner or later, no one realistically expected the Cavs to win 70+ games. Then something strange happened; the Cavs lost again and again. The Cavaliers are currently on a three-game losing streak. Even with how great the team has played, being on a skid this close to the playoffs isn’t ideal.
I noticed a disturbing trend in the Cavs’ recent losses. In two of the last three games, the opposing team’s frontcourt completely overwhelmed the Cavs. In the loss to the Magic, Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner took advantage of the then Evan Mobley-less Cavs by combining for 46 points and 17 rebounds. Mobley’s absence was especially felt given the fact that normally efficient shooting Cavs shot a measly 41.7% from the field in this game.
The next loss came at the hands of the Clippers, as the Cavs fell 132-119. The fact that the Cavaliers lost isn’t the worst part, it’s how they lost. Clippers C Ivica Zubac seemingly couldn’t be stopped as he finished with 28 points and 20 rebounds. Kawhi Leonard added 33 points as well. The Cavs started out strong but faded down the stretch.
The _Cavs’ next (and hopefully last) loss in this skid would be against a subpar Sacramento Kings team. Despite a great 31-point 10 rebound performance from Evan Mobley, the Cavs would go on to lose 123-119. The common theme of these losses is the Cavs looking a bit soft at times. I hate bringing up Cavalier playoff losses as much as the next Cavs fan, but these games reminded me of the 2023_ first-round series vs New York. The Knicks ended up winning the series 4-1, mainly due to Allen and Mobley getting straight bullied by the duo of Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle. This is how the infamous Jarrett Allen _“The lights were brighter than expected,”_ quote came to be.
On the other hand, I don’t think this losing streak is anything too concerning. How quick we are to forget that the Cavs had a three-game losing streak earlier this season. The Cavaliers had a loss to the 76ers sandwiched between two losses to the Houston Rockets back in January. How did the Cavs respond to this supposedly demoralizing stretch of games? They won 20 of the next 21 games, including impressive wins against Boston, Milwaukee, and New York.
The wine and gold head west to face off against the Phoenix Suns tonight. A win here certainly puts momentum back on the Cavs’ side. A loss to one of the most dysfunctional teams in the NBA however, would give Boston a chance to chip away at Cleveland’s six-game lead in the Eastern Conference standings. A three-game losing streak doesn’t necessarily hurt, but the Cavs need to rebound soon. Since 1995, only five teams have won the NBA championship with regular season losing streaks of five or more games _(’22 Warriors ’21 Bucks ’11 Mavs ’04 Pistons ’95 Rockets)_. I look for the Cavs to bounce back tonight in a major way.
Tags: Cavs, Cleveland, Cleveland Cavaliers, evan Mobley, NBA
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