James Harden says Cavs have to ‘start figuring it out soon’

The Cavaliers keep finding things to build on after losses. James Harden would like to see them put those things together before another game gets away.

“We’re eight games in and we have to start figuring it out soon,” Harden told reporters after Wednesday’s 124-116 road loss to the Thunder.

That’s a reasonable assessment of a 4-4 team that has looked good in stretches and ordinary for far too many others. As I covered in the Dribbles column⁠, the recurring problems are becoming difficult to separate from the results.

Wednesday brought another slow start, another sizable deficit and another comeback that fell short. The Cavs trailed by 17 after the first quarter and by as many as 25.

“Disappointing,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “You can’t come on the road, especially against a good team and have five turnovers [in the first quarter] and four of them were live ball. Get the other team going. Gotta do better.”

That’s particularly costly against Oklahoma City. The Thunder don’t need much assistance, even with three starters unavailable. Giving them opportunities to score before the defense gets set only makes the assignment harder.

Atkinson did appreciate that the Cavs continued competing.

“Give the guys a lot of credit for fighting back and keeping our composure,” he said. “In a situation like that, especially on the road, you can fold.”

He returned to that point when assessing the night.

“I was pleased with how we responded,” Atkinson said. “You could go the other way and take one on chin and lose by 40 here. Made a comeback, so I’m going to take the positives.”

Basically, a coach has to find something useful to carry into the next game. But for a team with the Cavs’ expectations, continuing to compete should be a requirement. They need to give themselves a chance to win before the fourth quarter. Harden acknowledged as much.

“You get down double digits on the road against a really good team, it’s difficult,” he said. “Didn’t come out with the thrust we needed. Fought back but it wasn’t enough. Gotta get off to better starts and sustain it for a whole game.”

There’s still plenty of season left. The concern is how familiar the explanation sounds.

“Consistency is key,” Harden said. “Wherever we can find that consistency throughout the course of the year, it’s going to help us win a lot of games. We have shown steps of growth and flashes of being really really good. We’re just inconsistent.”

The Cavs understand the problem. Eight games in, they’re still working on making the solution last longer than a stretch or two.