-
Chris Herring, ESPN senior writer
TWO AND A HALF months ago, the Cleveland Cavaliers were wavering.
They had just lost their third straight game to fall to 13-12, falling to ninth place in the Eastern Conference, and had just had an All-Star guard. Garland of Darius collide face to face with Kristaps Porzingis‘ hip, leaving the general on the ground with a fractured jaw.
In the same press release in which the team announced Garland would miss four weeks, the Cavs also said Evan Mobleywho finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, would miss six to eight weeks to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
The sky was falling over bleak northeastern Ohio.
Or so it seemed.
In their next game, against Atlanta, the short-handed Cavs scored 41 points in the first quarter – the most points scored by JB Bickerstaff’s team in any period all season – en route to a victory of eight points against the Hawks.
Since then, they have barely lost.
The Cavaliers, with an NBA-best 23-5 mark from Dec. 15 to the All-Star Game, advanced Seven places over the past two and a half months to occupy second place in the Eastern Conference heading into the weekend.
All of this raises two fundamental questions, both of which could shift the balance of power in the East.
How? And, perhaps more importantly, is it real?
