Cleveland, OH — A Sunday afternoon loss to the Boston Celtics gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a clear picture of the gap they still must close.
Cavaliers
Boston dictated most of the contest at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, winning comfortably and providing Cleveland with what guard James Harden called a “standard” for his new club.
“That’s the standard right there,” Harden said after what was only his 10th or 11th game with the Cavaliers. “Once we get there — because I know we’re good enough — we’ll be a much better team.”
Pistons
In Miami, the Detroit Pistons dropped their fourth straight game, a 2½-game Eastern Conference lead over Boston shrinking in the process. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff remained calm about the slide.
“It’s the NBA,” Bickerstaff told reporters, per the Associated Press. “The season’s long. Everybody goes through difficult times. We just found ours right now.”
Cade Cunningham returned from a quadriceps injury to post 26 points and 10 assists, but the performance wasn’t enough to halt Detroit’s losing streak. Forward Tobias Harris framed the skid as the club’s “biggest dose of adversity all year,” adding that the Pistons will “keep our head high and move on to the next.”
Bulls
The Chicago Bulls continue to balance on the fence between competing and rebuilding. Sunday’s defeat to the Sacramento Kings dropped them to 2-11 since the trade deadline overhaul and left the team 12th in the Eastern Conference.
Despite the slide, head coach Billy Donovan said the directive from management remains clear.
“Everything I’ve gotten here from the front office and ownership is that we need to do the best job we can to go out there and try to win,” Donovan said. “I believe in that.”
The three teams now head into the coming week looking for vastly different solutions: Cleveland searching for Boston’s level, Detroit aiming to end a skid, and Chicago trying to define its path.
Source: Hoops Wire
