Cleveland Cavaliers are 2-3 in their last five games and things haven't gone well for LeBron James and rest of the squad. Just two weeks ago, it seemed that the Cavaliers were untouchable and that they would finish another season as the first seed in the East. However, after another loss against the Washington Wizards last night, the Cavaliers are now only half a game ahead of the second-seeded Boston Celtics.
With ten games left in the season, the Cavaliers will have to give their maximum effort in order to secure the first seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
Securing first seed is essential to the Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are a much better team at home than they are on the road. Only 8 of their 25 losses came in Cleveland, where they also won 28 games. The Cavs have looked like a different team on the road this season and their 19-17 record is everything but good. There are a lot of problems that have to be fixed for Cleveland, but playing on the road in at least two playoff rounds will make the postseason much harder for them.
Losing first seed means that they would most likely play at least two playoff rounds without home court advantage. If they keep playing poor basketball as they have been lately, it is not out of question that they could fall down to the fourth seed.
Schedule only gets tougher for Cleveland
Their remaining schedule is not very friendly to the Cleveland Cavaliers as they will have three back-to-backs in the last ten games of the season. Seven of those games will be against playoff teams and five of them will be on the road. The next game for the Cavaliers is in San Antonio against the Spurs, and considering how they have played lately, it is not very likely that they will win it.
On the other side, the Boston Celtics, who are the biggest threat to the first seed, will have only five games against playoff teams and they will go on the road for just three games in the remainder of the season. The most important game will be against the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they will host them on April 5 and try to conquer the conference with a victory over them.
