CLEVELAND _ During the Cavaliers' 1-4 stretch that has left coaches and players searching for answers, their weakness has been exposed.
The way to beat them _ or at least the best way to get a lead _ is simple. Run all over them.
And until the Cavs decide defense is not an afterthought, until they start getting back in transition, until their 3-point shooters not named Kyle Korver start making more shots, it won't matter if they are facing one of the league's elite or one of its bottom-feeders.
Foes don't need a roster stocked with stars to be competitive with the Cavs. All they need are fast, athletic and energetic players who are not intimidated, who perform like they have nothing to lose.
The 3-4 Cavs look old, slow and disinterested, and coach Tyronn Lue has noticed.
"Right now, I don't know if it's in shape-wise or what, but teams just look faster than we do at every position," Lue said after a 114-95 home loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday night. "They're running fast, they're spreading, they're pushing the ball up the floor. It's like we can't keep up."
Suggesting that the Cavs are too old is a question that requires treading lightly. They are built for the postseason, when the game slows.
But they have seven players over age 30. Point guard Isaiah Thomas, 28, is supposed to return from a torn labrum in his right hip by the end of the year, but may not be as fast as he used to be, at least this season. The Cavs have no one who could match the acceleration of the Wizards' John Wall, although LeBron James and Jeff Green wouldn't get lost in Wall's blur if inclined to keep up.
Dwyane Wade, 35, wasn't afraid to address the fact that opponents are speeding up the game on the veteran Cavs.
"That's the game today. Everyone is trying to play an up-tempo game and everyone is trying to shoot a lot of 3s," Wade said Sunday. "It's just the way the game is. It's not purposely saying, 'Let's just do it on the Cavs and no one else.' Definitely trying to use their strengths.
"A lot of teams we've been playing lately have been younger than us and that's their strength _ running up and down and the open-gym kind of feel to the game. They've been playing the game very well, better than we have."
The four teams to beat the Cavs have scored 42 fast break points and hit 18-of-33 shots in those situations. That's skewed by the Magic, who scored only 4 points on 1-of-6 shooting. The last three teams to beat the Cavs _ the Nets, Pelicans and Knicks _ have hit 63 percent of their shots on the fast break. The Knicks came out of the gate with nine of their 13 fast-break points in the first quarter to set the tone.
The aforementioned four teams have also capitalized on 69 Cavs' turnovers (17.3 per game) and turned them into 74 points (18.5 per game). Going into Monday, the Cavs ranked 24th in the league in turnovers with an average of 16.1.
Part of the problem could be a conditioning issue. James, 32, missed virtually all of training camp with one of the worst sprained ankles of his career. Rose looked rusty Sunday after being sidelined for four games with a sprained left ankle.
But James wouldn't use that as an excuse.
Asked if he needed to get in better shape, James said, "I think everybody (can be), but that's not why teams are just scoring on us. I missed the whole training camp so I knew it was going to be uphill for me. But that doesn't stop me from defending or taking a challenge with my one-on-one guy. So that's not the reason. Especially for me personally."
As for whether opposing teams are faster than the Cavs, he said, "Um, I don't know. I think our defense is just the No. 1 thing. Our defensive transition, our communication."
Going into Monday, the Cavs ranked 25th in the league in points allowed (110.1), 23rd in opponents' field goal percentage (.459) and 28th in opponents' 3-point percentage (.397).
But the Cavs aren't the only top team off to a slow start. The Golden State Warriors, who have beaten the Cavs in two of the last three Finals, are 4-3. The Oklahoma City Thunder is 3-3.
But what's troubling is the Cavs have gone 1-4 in the second-easiest six-game stretch for any team in the NBA this season based on the Basketball Power Index, per ESPN Stats & Information.
The Cavs' four conquerors _ the Magic (4-2), Nets (3-4), Pelicans (3-3) and Knicks (2-3) _ are a combined 12-12. That may be better than expected for some of the four, but even cab drivers in New Orleans aren't sure the Pelicans will make the 2018 postseason.
Korver knows how opponents are playing the Cavs, and sees the contrast in his team.
"It's really heavy out there," Kyle Korver said Sunday. "People are taking it really serious. We're not playing loose and free. When we play like that, we're really hard to guard, it's really fun to watch and it's really fun to play."
James wasn't upset about the Cavs' record or the loss to the supposedly overmatched Knicks.
"What month is this for me? What is this? October?" James said. "I'm not about to go crazy over it right now. It's too long of a season and I've been a part of this too many times. I'm the wrong guy to ask. I'm too positive right now."
Apparently James isn't fazed by the constant blur of opponents streaking past him, and the Cavs don't face Wall and the Wizards until Friday night in Washington.
But the rest of the league is paying attention. It took only seven games to find the Cavs' Achilles heel, and it's a flaw not easily rectified.
