The Cleveland Cavaliers had one of the best regular-season campaigns during the 2024-25 season. They were the number one seed with a 64-18 record. This season, they are only 42 games in, but they already have more losses than in the previous campaign.
It has been a rough season for the Cavaliers because they have missed a lot of their players. They have had numerous starting lineups, which have led to some issues with the team’s continuity. Head coach Kenny Atkinson has made adjustments, but sometimes, they are not enough.
Atkinson laments the starting lineup issues
For the past few years, everyone has known the Cavaliers’ core group of players. That is the quartet of Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen. They were the core for this team, which led to the superb regular season run in the previous campaign.
These days, they are still amazing players, but they are not as healthy as before. Almost every player from the core has missed some time, especially with Garland, who had a significant toe injury.
This led to Atkinson having to adjust his starting lineup. Most people would know that Mitchell and Garland are awesome as a backcourt duo, especially with their dynamic offense. Unfortunately, that has not been on the court as consistently as they would have liked.
From the previous season, they had Ty Jerome filling in when they needed a guard. Unfortunately, Lonzo Ball is not the same player as Jerome, which has led to offensive issues for the Cavaliers.
“We’ve had a lot of different lineups, I think the most different starting lineups this year, 21. I think we haven’t had great continuity, we’ve added new players, young guys in the rotation… To play that kind of basketball, it takes time for everybody to gel,” Atkinson said after their latest win on Wednesday.
It has been a rough season for the Cavaliers, but they can still bounce back. If they can get healthy enough to compete, they will be a significant threat in the Playoffs.
