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'Wake-up call': Cavaliers hope 3-game losing streak, adversity provide future benefits
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- 'Wake-up call': Cavaliers hope 3-game losing streak, adversity provide future benefits
CLEVELAND — It isn't often that a coach can look at a three-game losing streak as a potential positive. It also isn't often that a coach finds himself in the same position as Kenny Atkinson with the Cavaliers .
The Cavs (36-9) fell 135-131 to the Houston Rockets Saturday night — the first time they've lost three consecutive games all season.
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When a team is 36-9, there aren't many chances to face too much adversity. It also means a team doesn't really know how it will react to it. Atkinson is, in a way, pleased to be able to find out.
To the Cavs, it's better to figure that out in January than in April, May or June.
"I think this patch of adversity, it's good, it's great. Let's see how we react," Atkinson said. "I don't see slippage in chemistry of leadership. Those are the things that'd concern me, right? When the team's not together, we're not sharing it or there's selfish play. We have great leadership, we've got a great group."
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) defends in the first quarter against the Houston Rockets on Jan. 25, 2025, in Cleveland.
Cavs lose grip on NBA's best record during 3-game losing streak
The Cavs steamrolled their way through most of the regular season to this point. They maintained a 70-win pace to roughly the midway point of the season. Everything was relatively easy for them.
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Now they've lost five of their last eight games. But if that's what it takes to force them to find out how they punch back after being knocked down, they might view it as a blessing in disguise for the playoffs, when a best-of-7 series forces teams to quickly recover and bounce back.
"It just gives you a wake-up call and, I mean, life is not always happy," said Evan Mobley , who returned from a calf injury Saturday night. "So you just got to take that adversity, learn from it and then get better."
There are two numbers related to the losing streak that have given the Cavs some optimism — three and eight.
That's three games, all loses, by a combined eight points . The Cavs have fallen in all three games, but they've nearly mounted comebacks in all three, and they've done it shorthanded.
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Mobley has been out or limited. Isaac Okoro is out. Caris LeVert has missed time. The Cavs are now without Dean Wade .
Saturday night, the Cavs erased a 17-point deficit with a flurry to tie it late in the fourth quarter. That's part of why the three-game losing streak is being considered a wake-up call and not a full nightmare.
"[It's] nothing to freak out about, but something to address and handle," said Donovan Mitchell , who scored 33 points in the loss and played all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter. "Elite teams don't lose two in a row, then you damn sure don't lose three. Obviously we did, but that's the mindset, you know, just find a way to win."
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) defends against the Houston Rockets on Jan. 25, 2025, in Cleveland.
Cavaliers ' defensive strength slips without Dean Wade , Isaac Okoro
The injuries have hit Cleveland's perimeter defense especially hard. Wade and Okoro, in particular, are relied upon to defend the 3-point line. In the month of January, the Cavs have a defensive rating of 118.9, the second-worst in the NBA. If anything, this recent stretch has shown how valuable Wade, Okoro and a full-strength Mobley really are to how they operate.
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Regardless of who's available in the Cavs rotation, they now have the biggest test in seeing how they bounce back from a tough stretch.
"Yeah, we knew it was going to come," said Darius Garland , who scored 39 points in Saturday's loss. "Knew it was going to hit a small little wall, just didn't know when it was going to come. … Really got to creep out of the slump that we're in, and I think it's going to start on the defensive end. So getting back to our [normal] defense and our identity I think would be good."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers' 3-game losing streak may set them up in playoffs
