No panic in Cavaliers despite struggles, critics

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

OAKLAND, Calif. – Defiance isn't typically born out of four-game losing streaks, but here were the new-look Cleveland Cavaliers pulling it off on Friday night.

Call them excuses, or good old-fashioned explanations, but they simply don't see the same disastrous situation here that so many others do. LeBron James is out, and this group simply can't be judged when that's the case. Shameless scorer J.R. Smith and enormous big man Timofey Mozgov are in, but two-way talent Iman Shumpert isn't lining up next to point guard Kyrie Irving just yet – due to a shoulder injury – and so the evaluation in its totality won't be made for weeks.

In its absence, there was this: confidence galore despite a 19-18 record, a 112-94 loss to the Golden State Warriors, and a doomsday context that they aren't about to endorse.

"We know that things are going to work out," Cavaliers forward Kevin Love told USA TODAY Sports. "I know that we have a lot of talent here, guys who can do a lot of different things, so I tend to look at that more than the negative stuff.

"You saw what J.R. can bring (in scoring 27 points on 11 of 23 shooting against the Warriors). Whether he starts or comes off the bench, he can fill it up. Shump, he can add a lot, especially defensively, he brings a very high energy there and is a big player. With T-Mo (Mozgov), I've never played with a guy of that size and you saw a little bit of what he'll be able to bring tonight (Nine points, eight rebounds, one block in 26 minutes)."

For all the chatter about the Cavs' demise and this notion that they have no shot at winning the title that so many oddsmakers claimed was theirs to lose going into the season, the reality is that all this recent skepticism has only fueled this proud group. From James on down, there is a sense that the critics are doing nothing but fueling their fire while sparking the eventual resurgence that remains possible because of the considerable talent that is on board.

James, above all else, is watching and waiting for that time when he's able to play the "I told you so" card in ways that still drive him in his 12th season in the Association. James' knee and back injuries have kept him out of the past seven games, but his spirits are doing just fine.

That much was clear Friday night, when - in our brief exchange after the loss - he half-heartedly complained about missing Christmas Day at home yet again (the Cavs lost at Miami) and smiled about this idea that Santa Claus had skipped the Cavaliers' house this holiday season. Lest we may have forgotten, this is still the four-time MVP and best player in the game we're talking about. That, and that alone, means it's foolhardy to deduce here in mid-January that all this recent nonsense means there's no way they'll find a way to be there at the end.

Whether James returns on Tuesday at Phoenix (unlikely, but possible) or in Los Angeles when the Cavaliers play at the Clippers on Thursday and Lakers on Friday (very likely), he's eager to get back on the floor and start this process of proving himself all over again. Yes, their season has been defined by mediocrity and even some mayhem, but the excitement within James remains because of this unchanged opinion: this cast of characters around him, especially after the recent additions, is far superior to the one he had in his first Cleveland go-round.

Players such as Love, meanwhile, are beyond eager to reap the kinds of benefits that come with playing a part in a championship-caliber formula that so many assumed was not feasible because of the lackluster start. James didn't speak after the latest loss, but Love may as well have spoken for him.

"This has been a hell of a process here with these guys out," Love said in our chat. "The last four, five, six, seven games – I can't remember how long it has been – but we've dropped four straight, and it has been trying. But we know we have to get everybody healthy, and when we have a full roster, we're a totally different team, so we have to continue.

"If this would have been my second or third year (in Minnesota), I probably would have been very upset and not talking to anybody, but I know that we have a lot of talent and we're going to be able to make some stuff happen – especially with the moves that we made. They'll help us."

There is reason for optimism here. Beyond the recent additions of scoring and defensive talent, there is a sense that starts with James that this is not the end game. The Cavaliers plan on making yet another key addition once the buyout market becomes the front-and-center topic of discussion, and rest assured that the Mozgov move that cost them two first-round draft picks is one that James endorsed way back in August when Cavaliers general manager David Griffin first raised the possibility of prying him away from the Denver Nuggets.

Their defiance, in other words, is entirely warranted. James is surrounded by the kind of talent that still has time to jell and find the kind of midseason form that is so vital this time of year. Maybe then, if this all goes the way James and so many others within the organization still believe it will, even the most sadistic of naysayers will see that it was far too early to write off this Cavaliers group that is somehow surviving this basketball crisis.

Four-game losing streak be darned.

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