Here are five observations:
LeBron's MVP case - The best argument for James winning his fifth MVP can be made when he doesn't play.
In games with James, the Cavaliers are 129-43, which is a winning percentage of .750. Without him, they are 0-3 this season and 4-18 since he returned to Cleveland. That's a winning percentage of .182 -- worse than the Philadelphia 76ers, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks this year.
Of the 18 losses, 10 have been by double digits.
"I'm pretty sure it's going to be the blame on me and Kev and how we can't win without Bron," Kyrie Irving said following the game. "It's the same sentence that goes on no matter what."
Well, duh. Who else is the "blame" going to fall on? DeAndre Liggins? Tristan Thompson? Iman Shumpert?
The attention goes to the other All-Stars, the two max players. I mean, it's the highest payroll in NBA history and yet the team can't seem to function without James. It's only a minor issue, but baffling nonetheless.
"We still have enough talent to win, that goes without saying," Love said. "But take the best player in the world off your team, he just means so much to us. His usage is so high in what we do with both units that whether it's the starting unit or the second unit, you take him away from our team and we lose a lot, naturally."
Following each loss with James resting, the Cavs -- and Irving -- seem to brush it off. That makes sense. There's no reason to envision life without James long term. And if something were to happen, there would be no way for the Cavs to make up for that loss anyway. They would collapse quickly and be out of title contention in a blink.
"We expect to have LeBron (in the postseason)," Love said.
But he's going to rest more as the season progresses to stay fresh for the playoffs, which means the Cavs will likely lose more games because of it. They could even possibly fall out of the Eastern Conference's top spot. But, as frustrating as it can be, does it truly matter? They are great with him, having just four losses.
That's the true definition of value, the key word that voters should focus on when determining the award recipient.
Offense struggles - The offense is often predicated on James drawing the defense's attention and creating opportunities for teammates.
Channing Frye is what Lue terms a "specialist", a great catch-and-shoot big man. Smith, when healthy, needs guys to create shot attempts for him. The same goes for every other player on the roster except James, Irving and Love, who looks for his own offense on post-ups.
But the threat of those outside shooters opens the floor for Cleveland's Big Three, which is the real beauty of the roster Griffin has assembled.
Still, without one of those primary creators, the offense crumbles -- just as it did against Detroit.
The fourth-highest scoring team in the NBA scored 90 points, its second-lowest total this season. In the three games James hasn't played the Cavs are averaging 89.3.
you plugged up?
He already told the people he needed tho. He don't need to tell the media or public shyt
