CHICAGO -- Kyrie Irving all but told us Wednesday there was some discontent in the Cavs' locker room in recent days, certainly following their 29-point loss to the Spurs.

It's not surprising, given the amount of time Cleveland's spent on the road this month and, to be clear, the amount of time the team has spent losing this month.

After the Cavs lost their ninth game in 15 tries Monday against the Spurs, 14-year vet James Jones spoke in the locker room, asking rhetorically what the players really wanted out of this season, a source told cleveland.com.

These kinds of speeches are not unusual, especially at this point in the season with the playoffs fast approaching, but this kind of losing in March is rare for the Cavs. And it's not what one would expect from a defending champion with this kind of talent.

Neither LeBron James nor Kyrie Irving barked at teammates in the locker room, the source said, though the source confirmed what Irving said Monday -- that the losing and the travel have frayed nerves.

And yet, as the Cavs get set to play the Chicago Bulls tonight, they find themselves tied for first with the Celtics, who lost Wednesday to Milwaukee.

The theme floating in Cleveland's locker room right now seems to be -- do you want to repeat as champions? If each player were polled individually, not one would say they didn't want another title this season.

So the rhetorical questioning from Jones and the public comments from Irving about complacency seem to suggest players' effort haven't matched their intentions.

The Cavs haven't played in two days, and after tonight's game have the next three at home before a showdown in Boston. Now's an excellent time to match effort with team goals.

"I like where we are if we understand where we are. It's that simple," LeBron James said Thursday.