Cavaliers Futility in Miami Continues With 11th Straight Loss

The Cleveland Cavaliers sit atop the NBA Eastern Conference with a record of 49-20. The Cavaliers are a game and a half in front of second place Toronto with third place Atlanta 8 ½ games back.

However, if Cleveland had to play frequently in Miami at the American Airlines Arena, the Cavaliers might be heading for a lottery pick.

On Saturday night, Miami defeated Cleveland 122-101 making it the 11th straight time Cleveland has lost in Miami dating back six years when LeBron James was with the Heat.

However, more importantly, since James left Miami to return to the Cavaliers last season, Miami is 4-0 in the head-to-head series at Miami, with its wins coming by a combined 60 points.

Currently, if the teams finish in their current spots in the Eastern Conference, they could face one another in the second round if they both won their first round series.

Following Saturday night’s loss, James said that they way Miami has beaten the Cavaliers in Miami was concerning if the two teams met during the postseason.

James did say, if the teams were to meet in the postseason, Cleveland would be ready for the Heat and that on Saturday they did not play up to their full potential.

The game on Saturday was Cleveland’s fifth in just the past seven days. The last time Cleveland played in Miami, prior to Saturday’s game, James sat out to rest and the Heat defeated the Cavs by 15. In October, Cleveland beat Miami by 10 in Miami’s only visit to Cleveland.

The Heat players also get more excited for the game when Cleveland and former teammate James comes to town. However, Tyronn Lue the Cleveland head coach said his team had to start getting up for their games the same way their opponents do.

Dwayne Wade led Miami with 24 points and reached the 20,000-point plateau during the third quarter. Five players for the Heat scored 10 points or more on the night.

Cleveland needs to pull itself out of a current funk. The Cavs are just 9-6 over their last 15 games played and have seen their lead in the conference standings whittled to 1 ½ over Toronto at the top of the conference.

Cleveland has 13 games left on its regular season schedule and needs to finish hot leading up to the postseason as the playoffs could mean as many as 28 more games if the series all go seven games.