The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a funk-and it’s starting to show where it hurts the most: at home. After Sunday’s 119-111 loss to a short-handed Charlotte Hornets squad, the Cavs dropped to 9-7 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, and the frustration is boiling over. The boos raining down from the home crowd weren’t just audible-they were earned.
“I was a fan once. I’d boo us, too,” Donovan Mitchell said after the loss, pulling no punches.
“We're not playing well. The city deserves better than what we've been giving, and we’ve got to go out there and figure it out.
If we want to be who we want to be, we’ve got to go out there and figure it out as a collective.”
That’s the kind of accountability you want from your star, but it also underscores just how off-kilter things have gotten in Cleveland. The Cavs have already matched their total number of home losses from last season-and it’s only mid-December. That’s not just a stat, it’s a red flag.
Darius Garland, Mitchell’s backcourt partner and fellow All-Star, took a slightly different tone. He acknowledged the fans’ frustration but urged them to stay engaged, pointing to the energy-however faint-that the bench tried to inject into the building.
“I know it's not a lot to cheer for right now, but we need the fans in it,” Garland said. “That gets us going.
So when the fans [are] not in it, the bench has to be into it. Larry [Nance Jr.] did a really good job, and Thomas [Bryant], on the bench [Sunday].
Really doing everything they can to try to get some energy in the arena, standing up, screaming from the other side of the floor. Really trying to find that energy.
That's what we need.”
It’s telling that the Cavs are leaning on bench energy to spark a team that was supposed to be one of the East’s more stable contenders. Yes, injuries have played a role, but this is now the fourth straight season where Cleveland’s performance at home has swung wildly from one year to the next.
Let’s look at the pattern. Last season, the Cavs didn’t lose their seventh home game until the final day of the regular season, finishing a rock-solid 34-7 at Rocket.
The year before, they hit seven home losses by December 21 and wrapped up at 26-15. And in 2022-23, they didn’t get to that mark until February 23, finishing 31-10 at home.
That’s a lot of variance for a team trying to build consistency and a real identity in the Eastern Conference.
This year’s squad sits at 15-12 overall-still above water, but trending in a direction that could get uncomfortable fast. The upcoming stretch features winnable games against the Bulls and Hornets, and if the Cavs want to stop this slide, they’ll need to capitalize.
What’s clear is that something’s off with this group. Whether it’s chemistry, effort, execution, or all of the above, the Cavs haven’t looked like the team they were expected to be. And while there’s still time to right the ship, the clock is ticking-and the home crowd is already letting them hear it.