The Cleveland Cavaliers are searching for answers, and right now they don’t look like a team with a clear identity.
That was on display Monday, Nov. 9, when Cleveland dropped a 124-112 decision to the Charlotte Hornets. Charlotte was missing three of its top five scorers, but the Cavaliers still let the Hornets get comfortable from deep and never fully wrestled control back.
The biggest damage came from beyond the arc. Charlotte finished 23-for-46 on 3-pointers, and even when Cleveland tried to make a push in the fourth quarter with a lineup of two-way players alongside Meleek Thomas, the Hornets had just enough answers to shut the door on any real comeback.
James Harden drew the harshest criticism. His defense was described as nonexistent, with Charlotte repeatedly finding clean looks because he was not tracking his man. Grayson Allen, the Hornets’ best shooter, was often the one Harden ended up on, and that led to a steady stream of made shots for Charlotte.
Harden’s issues weren’t limited to defense. On turnovers, he was not hustling to clean up his mistakes, and his play was described as a complete liability on both ends. Whenever Charlotte made its biggest runs, Harden was on the floor while the game slipped further away.
Kenny Atkinson is taking plenty of heat for how this season has gone, and the criticism centered on his decision-making. Harden was left on the court for eight to nine minutes at a time with players who could not create offense on their own, putting the burden on him to make something happen. That has not worked this season.
Donovan Mitchell was also part of the frustration. There are concerns about him this season, and he spent much of the second and third quarters on the bench while the Cavaliers fell behind. When Cleveland did build a big lead in games, Atkinson was said to make adjustments that changed the way the team played and undercut what was working.
The odd part, according to the critique, is that the Cavaliers often look better when they’re already buried. Even down by 20 or more, things can start to click. That still points back to the coaching decisions, because it would not be happening if the right calls were being made earlier.
There were a couple of bright spots. Meleek Thomas stood out as one of the few good things about the team, with the argument made that he has looked more like the future leader of the Cavaliers than Mitchell at times. Mario Hezonja was mentioned in the same breath, with Thomas and Hezonja identified as the two players worth building around if the rest of the roster were turned over.
The bigger question now is whether this is the moment Atkinson truly feels the pressure, or whether the Cavaliers make changes elsewhere before the season gets any uglier.
In Other News...
Cavs Core Suddenly Facing Questions Fans Never Expected
The Cavaliers latest trip through the schedule brought an unwelcome kind of reminder, one that had little to do with standings and everything to do with how shaky the floor can look when the core is off. A loss to Charlotte came with the kind of uneven stretches that make grading individual performances feel more necessary than nitpicky, and the discussion afterward centered less on one bad night than on how several of the teams biggest names looked out of sync.
Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley were among the players drawing concern in the aftermath, while the piece also elevated Meleek Thomas as the games bright spot. Even with the focus on one standout performance, the bigger issue for Cleveland is the uneasy feeling around familiar pillars of the roster, especially when the margin for error shrinks and the questions start sounding less like overreaction and more like something the Cavaliers will have to answer soon. [Read more 🡒]
Cavs Just Turned One Ugly Loss Into A Bigger Rotation Debate
The Cavaliers left themselves far too much to do in a rough recent outing, one that exposed real issues on the defensive end and on the glass. Even against a team missing 60% of its starters, Cleveland gave up 100 points in the first 33 minutes, a reminder that the margin for error disappears quickly when the effort and physicality are not there from the start.
A late push from the reserves at least gave the game some life, with Craig Porter Jr., Riley Minix, Meleek Thomas, Norchad Omier and Thomas Bryant helping fuel a fourth-quarter rally. But the comeback fell short, and with the Cavaliers sitting at 5-6 and heading back to Madison Square Garden for a rematch, the bigger question is how Kenny Atkinson sorts out a rotation that has already become part of the conversation. [Read more 🡒]
Cavaliers Bench Is Sending A Message The Starters Can't Ignore
Through the first 11 games, the Cavaliers have had a familiar problem surface often enough to become part of the conversation around the teams early-season identity. Ethan Sands and Spencer Davies both pointed to effort and leadership concerns among the veteran core, with the bench repeatedly bringing a different level of urgency than the group expected to set the tone. It has left Cleveland looking less like a team with a clear standard and more like one still searching for it.
The issue has not been confined to a single off night, either. It has shown up in multiple games, including matchups with Brooklyn, the season opener against New York, and the loss to Charlotte, which is why the discussion has moved beyond execution and into culture. For a team built around experienced starters and high expectations, the gap between the energy of the reserves and the consistency of the veterans is becoming hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]