OKC Thunder close gap on bottom 3: Tank wars Episode 4

Cleveland Cavaliers (21-45)

The Cavaliers who seemed invested in winning just a few weeks ago have fallen off a cliff. Cleveland has lost eight in a row and the defeats have come at the hands of both elite and tanking teams.

Although they pushed the Suns to overtime, Cleveland followed up that effort with a 141-105 loss this week.

The weekend should feature two more losses and extend the losing streak as they’ll face the Mavericks in a home and home series.

The final week of the 2020-21 Cavs campaign features matches versus the Pacers, Celtics, Wizards, and Nets.

While the Cavs aren’t winning they also aren’t actively resting healthy players, so their regression seems to be more directly tied to a slump similar to what they experienced throughout the season. That, and the clubs’ inability to score consistently.

The Cavs backcourt of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland are firmly entrenched in the future core. Likewise,  Jarrett Allen will be featured as their center rim protector of the future. But, there are issues at the wing as well as the obvious frustration of Kevin Love.

While the Cavs are likely to lose out it’s a safe assumption the Thunder will as well.