washington wizards

Heading into the All-Star break, the Cleveland Cavaliers were the hottest team in the NBA. The Cavs were 18-3 since the turn of the calendar year, a torrid stretch punctuated by eight-game and nine-game winning streaks.

If you thought the final two months of the NBA season would be a mirror image of the previous two months, the past week has been the equivalent of a cold shower.

The Cavs resumed action with back-to-back losses. As for which one was more troubling, you can take your pick.

In a 116-109 loss to Orlando, Mo Wagner was flexing his muscles like Hulk Hogan and the Magic reserves outscored the Cavs’ bench 63-24. The next night in Philadelphia, the Sixers beat the Cavaliers 104-97 without Joel Embiid – again.

Sunday night in Washington, it looked the Cavs might be headed for their third straight loss.

The Cavs went into the fourth quarter with an 87-80 lead, only to watch the Wizards go on a 14-0 run that gave Washington an 88-94 lead with 9:17 left. Darius Garland stopped the bleeding with back-to-back triples, and the Cavaliers had to gut out a win over the 9-48 Wizards.

After the game, a hoarse Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff was not in a good place.

“Again, we just need to be better,” Bickerstaff told reporters. “I don’t think we played to our standard tonight. I expected more fire from our group, after losing two games in a row and having an opportunity to play another one.

“We’ve got to get back to playing with that spirit, the way we played before the break. We’ve got some tough stretches coming up here. But we’ve got to be better. I’ve got to do a better job of getting guys ready to play, and our players have to do a better job as well.”

The Cavaliers are 24-7 since Dec. 16, but they’ve lost three of their last five. Their two wins have come against Chicago and Washington, and the win over the Bulls was a nail-biter.

In some respects, the Cavs are a victim of their own success. They’ve played so well over the past two and half months that they’re on everybody’s radar now – and the scouting report is out. Teams are finding success by playing tight, physical defense on the Cavs and pushing the tempo, which has forced the Cavs to rush their offensive sets and commit a lot of turnovers.

In the Magic’s Feb. 22 win in Cleveland, the Cavs turned the ball over 19 times, which led to 28 Orlando points.

While it’s been a tough stretch, the Cavs still hold the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. (At this same juncture last season, the Cavs were the No. 4 seed.) Nevertheless, they’re going to have to dig deep to stay there.

The post-All-Star-break schedule includes six more back-to-backs; a nine-game West Coast trip; five games in seven days – twice; and two games each against Minnesota, Phoenix, Miami and Indiana.

How can the Cavaliers maintain the proper mindset for such a treacherous schedule?

“It’s a focus on our habits right now,” Bickerstaff said. “Defensively, [it’s] understanding personnel, strengths and weaknesses, and forcing people to their weakness. Executing our coverages, being more physical, all those things. I think we have to continue to build those habits to get us where we want to go eventually.”