Udonis Haslem Calls Out Troubling Cavaliers Trend After 3 Losses in 4 Games

Udonis Haslem went through a list of areas where he has seen the Cleveland Cavaliers slip during Amazon’s Prime Video broadcast Friday night, as Cleveland opened NBA Cup group play at home against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Cleveland entered Friday at 4-4, with three losses in its last four games.

Haslem won three NBA championships with the Miami Heat and played all 20 of his NBA seasons in Miami before retiring in 2023.

Last season ended for the Cavaliers with a sweep by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference finals.

Haslem said Cleveland’s paint points, paint defense, and deflections have all dropped, along with how often its guards get into the paint to create for teammates.

“I just think the pain of getting your ass sent home should drive you,” Haslem said. “I just feel like the pain of getting sent home should drive you. You should fall in love with the struggle of what it takes to be a champion. And I’m just not seeing that from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I’m not seeing it consistently enough.”

“There’s too much slippage in the areas that make you be a champion,” Haslem continued. “There’s too much slippage. Your paint points have gone down. You’re not defending in the paint as much as you used to. Your deflections are going down. Your guards who are explosive and dynamic, they’re not getting in the paint creating opportunities for other guys. So there’s just slippage in so many areas.”

Two of the four losses came this week against the Oklahoma City Thunder. On Monday, Oklahoma City won 117-112 at Rocket Arena after a 16-6 run over the last five minutes of the second quarter put it ahead 59-48 at halftime. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a season-high 43 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 33 seconds left.

Wednesday’s rematch was a 124-116 loss at Paycom Center. The Thunder went on a 25-7 run in the first quarter. By the midway point of the second quarter, Oklahoma City led 50-25.

Cleveland shot a season-low 43% from the field.

After halftime, the Cavaliers outscored the Thunder 72-64. James Harden scored seven quick points early in the third quarter as Cleveland cut the deficit to seven, and Donovan Mitchell made four 3-pointers in the final 3:11. Mitchell finished with 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting. Harden had 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists, and Evan Mobley added 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Peyton Watson came up by name. Cleveland acquired the 6-foot-8 forward from the Denver Nuggets in an August sign-and-trade and signed him to a four-year, $88 million contract that includes a player option and a trade kicker.

“When you’re talking about really being a champion, once you check certain boxes as a championship team, you don’t go back to those boxes,” Haslem explained. “You move forward from those boxes. So all the things that they did well last year, they’re slippaging, and that’s the thing that I don’t understand. You bring in Peyton Watson, who’s a guy who’s a defensive guy. Why is there slippage defensively? Those are the things that I don’t understand about that team.”

“So that’s what I’m looking at with the Cleveland Cavaliers,” Haslem added. “They’re very capable. I saw them in the second half against OKC when they went on that 18-3 run. Everything was downhill. Everything was in the paint with force. So they’re capable of doing it. But that takes intentionality every single night.”

Watson started a career-high 40 games for Denver last season. He averaged career highs of 14.6 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.1 assists.

Entering this season, Watson ranked second in field goal percentage allowed as the contesting defender among players who had contested at least 2,000 shots since 2022-23, according to ESPN Research.

Max Strus and Dean Wade were Cleveland’s primary starters at small forward last season. Strus went to the Los Angeles Clippers in the Watson trade. Wade signed with Philadelphia in free agency, and so did LeBron James.

Sam Merrill wanted better starts after Wednesday, when Oklahoma City put up 37 in the first quarter.

“You just got to continue to battle,” Merrill said. “I think we’ve talked about this multiple times, like our entire goal over the next whatever, however long it takes, whatever the record looks like, is just develop great, consistent habits of trying to play good basketball, trying to play the right way with a ton of energy, sustained for 48 minutes. We’ve had some moments, but we’ve got to keep working on that.”

Jarrett Allen was listed as questionable with a right knee contusion on the NBA’s 2:45 p.m. ET injury report. Late in the first quarter Wednesday, Allen collided with Jared McCain while setting a screen and did not return. He finished scoreless in seven minutes.

Watson and Tyrese Proctor were also questionable. Proctor did not return Wednesday after an apparent ankle injury late in the game, and Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson gave updates on both Allen and Proctor afterward. Jaylon Tyson and Nae’Qwan Tomlin were listed as out.

Cleveland hosts the Knicks on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.