The Cleveland Cavaliers have been the best team in the eastern conference this season, but star LeBron James hasn't been satisfied with the effort of the Cavs and he showed some frustration over the weekend during the win against the Atlanta Hawks. The Cavs are dealing with some injuries to Timofey Mozgov and Mo Williams and this comes as Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert are expected to return to the lineup soon.
The Cavaliers are 10-3 and leading the Central division standings this season, but LeBron James has been critical of the effort of his team at times through the first month of the schedule. James made comments last week about the Golden State Warriors being "hungrier" than the Cavs despite winning the championship last season and on Saturday some of that frustration boiled over in the victory over the Hawks.
Following a turnover from Jared Cunningham on a pass out of bounds, James went to the bench in frustration and subbed out, but the Hawks inbounded the ball before the Cavs subbed anyone in, resulting in a technical foul. The Cavs were leading the game at that point and afterwards James said he apologized to the team and head coach David Blatt added afterwards that James was "frustrated."
"I blew a gasket. You know what that mean?" James said after the game, according to ESPN. "I apologized to my teammates for it."
James has tried to get his team to focus more early in the season and one development has been that the Cavs have not been partaking in pregame introductions. According to Chris Haynes at Cleveland.com, the team has not been doing the "traditional routine of walking up the runway high-fiving one another" and instead the starters have been coming together with Blatt and working on the early parts of the game plan. James said that he did that when he was in Miami with the Heat and that he wants the Cavs to be more "locked in" and "ready to go" at the start of games.
The Cavaliers have been off to a strong start and the team has done it without some key players, including Kyrie Irving and Iman Shumpert. Irving and Shumpert have not played yet for the Cavs this season after dealing with knee and wrist injuries, but both players are working their way back to full strength. Irving had knee surgery this summer and according to ESPN.com, Blatt said that Irving is making "good progress," but that he still does not have a set return date for Cleveland.
Shumpert is a bit closer after having wrist surgery and Cleveland.com reports that he could be back by mid-December. The Cavs also have Mo Williams and Timofey Mozgov dealing with injuries and both players underwent MRI testing to see the severity of their injury issues. Williams is dealing with leg soreness and an ankle injury and he is listed as doubtful for Monday's game. Mozgoz reportedly will be out for 10-14 days while dealing with a strained right deltoid.
