Are the Cleveland Cavaliers still a championship contender?

Courtesy NBA.com

Courtesy NBA.com

In a loss to the Indiana Pacers last night, (moving their record to a meek 3-5), Cavs' starting center Tristan Thompson suffered a left calf strain which will sideline him for the next month. Seems like its only been bad news for the Cavaliers' first few weeks of the NBA season. The 3-time consecutive NBA finalist Cleveland Cavaliers are looking down so far with four straight losses, leaving many Cleveland fans with their hands over their heads.

Can the Cavaliers maintain a season trip to the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year?

Courtesy House of Highlights channel and Inside the NBA

Detroit Pistons legend Isaiah Thomas claims that the Cavaliers are deeper, and a more versatile team than seasons past. He believes there will be some chemistry issues though with the addition of Dwayne Wade. Kevin McHale sees a more aggressive team defensively with players like Jae Crowder. I do agree that J.R. Smith may be unhappy with losing his starting lineup spot, being used to starting with Lebron and spreading the floor.

With Tristan out for the next month, I feel the Cavs need to see a big leap in productivity from players like Kevin Love and Channing Frye. Protection inside the paint and around the rim needs to be the top item on the Cleveland's checklist, now missing out on Thompson's six or so rebounds per game. The Cavs need to realize that every team is going to come at them with everything they got, and that every player in the NBA has talent to some extent. 

Since Tristan is not out there banging bodies like usual, Cleveland needs to take their efforts to a new level and I'm sure Lebron's effort will be taken to new heights. It's been awhile since Lebron has had to put the team on his back, being surrounded by at least one other superstar on his squad, but this year the greatest of all time candidate might have to. Seeing an NBA Finals without Lebron would be very eerie, due to the fact that he's made seven straight appearances! With that being said, I know that making all those appearances can drain a player not just physically but also mentally. Cleveland is desperate for the return of Isaiah Thomas, and I'm almost certain we'll see a turn around once he's back on the floor.  I know it is still early in the season but if Cleveland continues to have lackluster performances I feel that the Finals may be out of the question. We can only wait to see how Cleveland operates with Isaiah as starting point guard.

Some interesting numbers to keep in mind around the Cavaliers 3-5 season start that I pulled from an article from NBA.com:

• Last night's defeat marked the Cavs' third straight loss by 15 points or more. This is only the second time in LeBron's career that his team has lost three straight games that he's played in by 15-plus points (per Elias Sports): Oct. 28, 2017 to today March 21, 2004 to March 26, 2004 (LeBron's rookie season)
• The Cavs are off to their worst start since 2013-14 (the season before LeBron returned to Cleveland), when they finished 33-49.
• Per Elias Sports, this is only the second time a LeBron James-led team has been under .500 after the first eight games of a season. The other time it happened was in 2003-04 (James' rookie season). The Cavs started 2-6, finished the season 35-47 and missed the playoffs.
• Per Elias Sports, only seven teams have reached The NBA Finals after beginning a season 3-5 or worse through their first eight games. The last team to do so? The 1990-91 Los Angeles Lakers, who lost to Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls 4-1 in the series.

If you want to hear more surrounding the rocky start for Cleveland check out what the Gametime crew had to say last night here.

Please leave your comments below on what you have to say about this Cavaliers team!