The Cleveland Cavaliers had the best record in the Eastern Conference and the second-best record in the NBA last season, but they flamed out with a five-game loss to the 4-seeded Pacers in the second round of the playoffs. With the rest of the conference hobbled by injuries, they, along with the Knicks, entered this season as the clear favorites to represent to succeed the Pacers as Eastern Conference champions. Unfortunately, they got off on the wrong foot by losing in Madison Square Garden on Opening Night.
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The Cavs won a record 15 straight games to open last season, but this time around, they lost before even winning one. The defeat was even worse because it came at the hands of the New York Knicks, who were projected to be their biggest roadblock this year.
Naturally, fans are disappointed but none more so than Kendrick Perkins, who briefly wore a Cavs uniform at the end of his career. Perkins is already fed up with what he’s seen from his former team.
“I don’t believe s*** that Cleveland say or do when it comes to the Cavs,” he said. Perk referenced a profile Marc J. Spears did on the team for Andscape that was published earlier this week to explain why.
“They talked about the pain and the hurt and the embarrassment and all this s*** [of being knocked out last year], and the whole time I’m watching I’m like, ‘Get the f*** out of here,'” the former NBA champion remarked, calling the team out in the process.
“Because it didn’t show last night. When you’re embarrassed that you got your ass kicked early and you got sent home, you hit the ground running,” he continued. “The fact that we’re here questioning their physicality and their effort … How many 50/50 balls did New York beat them to last night?” Perkins asked.
Perk also called out the Cavs’ twin towers, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, for not setting the tone down low. “At minimum, y’all shoulda been cleaning up the glass,” he said. “Rebounding is all effort.”
The Cavs shot it better than the Knicks from the field and from the 3-point line, but New York outrebounded them 48-32 and got to the free throw line twice as often. To have a chance to make the Finals for the first time since 2018, Perk believes they need to get tougher and meaner.
“In order to win a f***** championship, you can’t be friendly,” he said. “There’s too many f***** nice guys on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nice guys don’t get you championships, period.”
The Thunder seem like nice guys and they won the title last year. Tyrese Haliburton is always smiling and he carried his team to the Finals. Perk has a point, though. On the court, these guys are as tough as they come, and the Cavs have been missing that as they’ve yet to get past the second round despite averaging over 54 wins the past three seasons.
The Cavs get a nice bounce-back opportunity against the Nets tonight, then they’ll face tougher tests against the Bucks and Pistons in their next two games. Their next meeting with the Knicks isn’t until Christmas Day, so we’ll see if they can toughen up by then.
