LeBron admits 'we're not so good' after double-digit loss to Celtics
It didn’t come as much of a surprise that the Celtics beat the Cavaliers last night in Boston considering Cleveland was playing a back-to-back and this was Kyrie Irving’s first time hosting former teammate LeBron James in his new house.
But still, it was a pretty sound beating by the Celtics, 102-88, and it left James wondering about the Jekyll and Hyde personality of this team and the improving competition in the Eastern Conference.
When asked if he is worried about other teams in the east dethroning his Cavs, James said: “Absolutely.”
“I’m always concerned about teams getting better and better, but I’m more concerned about us getting better and better. That’s the bigger things,” said James after the Celtics loss.
“It’s Washington, and obviously this team right here. Miami is trying to get better and better. Toronto is playing exceptional basketball right now. The East is pretty damn good this year.”
As for the Cavs, they’ve been inconsistent en route to a 25-13 record, currently third best in the conference behind Boston and Toronto.
“Right now, we’re not so good, great, not so good,” said James.
The Cavs have lost five of their last seven, but before that they ran off 18 wins in 19 games, including 13 straight at one point.
But, LeBron admits, it’s hard to judge just what the team is capable of until all-star guard Isaiah Thomas is back in the swing.
“We don’t know who we are or what we can be until we get IT back, consistently,” James said.
Thomas played his first game of the season Tuesday night against the Trail Blazers, scoring 17 points in 18 minutes. But he’s not playing back-to-backs, so he didn’t play in his return to Boston on Wednesday night, and he’s on a minutes restriction.
James said that once the Cavs “get a full dosage of IT and get our rotations down,” they’ll start to see what kind team they’ll be.
Celtics own the NBA’s best defensive rating at 100.4. And they’ve really turned things up vs top teams in Boston … pic.twitter.com/wLRxLJ59O6
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) January 4, 2018
James scored a team-high 19 points in a loss that saw the Cavs score their lowest number of points all season.
Terry Rozier had 20 to lead Boston.
Irving had just 11 points, but dished out nine assists for the 31-10 Celtics.
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