INDEPENDENCE, Ohio _ Kyle Korver's question that followed the question was almost as revealing as the answer.
When the subject of handling frustration was brought up, the Cavaliers' 37-year-old shooting guard responded, "In this series or the season?"
Going into Saturday night's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals at Quicken Loans Arena, the Cavs are down 0-2 to the Boston Celtics. Even though the Celtics are 1-4 on this road this postseason, the Cavs' run of three consecutive NBA Finals appearances could be nearing its end.
The season has been fraught with injuries, turnover and turmoil. General manager Koby Altman blew up the roster on Feb. 8, sending out six players and bringing in four, and the Cavs didn't have their new team fully healthy until the playoffs began.
Korver arrived in Cleveland in a trade with the Hawks in January 2017, then signed a three-year, $22 million free agent contract in July. His tenure has been relatively short, yet he's one of just five Cavs who played in the 2017 Finals.
On Friday, Korver's face seemed to lack some of its usual light as he discussed the disappointments of the week and of the last eight months.
"I think the standard's just really high here. The bar is set really high," he said after practice at Cleveland Clinic Courts. "Going to the Finals a bunch of years in a row, when things don't go the way you want them to it's like, 'Man, why didn't that work?'
"And this year there's been a lot of turnover. We haven't had the time as a unit that we probably would have liked, so there's probably going to be some mistakes out there. But we just have to learn how to _ not learn how to, we know how to _ we have to be focused on just playing through them, staying positive, 'Next play, next shot' and just try to put together runs."
Center Kevin Love said frustration is inevitable during the highs and lows of an 82-game season. But last year through two games of the conference finals the Cavs were 10-0; this year they're 8-5, which may serve to aggravate those feelings.
"I think the expectation is very high here because of the talent that we have and the group of veterans that we have and what we believe we're capable of," Love said. "I think anytime you lose there's going to be some frustration and ways to get better and guys need to pick up their level of play, but that's all the way across the board."
With three days off between games, Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said the emphasis has been on offense.
With a 101.2 scoring average in the postseason, the Cavs are tied for 13th among the 16 playoff teams. Their field goal percentage (.458) is eighth, their 3-point percentage (.336) 13th and their turnovers (12.2) fourth lowest.
In two games at Boston, the Cavs averaged just 88.5 points compared to the Celtics' 107.5. The Cavs are shooting .410 from the field, including .246 on 3s, with 12.5 turnovers per game.
Open looks have been hard to come by against the Celtics, whose playoff defensive rating of 104.0 is tied for third.
"They have a lot of versatile pieces," Korver said. "They're doing a lot of switching. They're loading up to (stop) LeBron (James), but they're not double-teaming. So, everything appears kind of open, but there's nothing that's wide open for us. They're playing really hard. They're only giving us one chance.
"We just have to be more consistent with our energy. I think the biggest thing is we can't get frustrated when things don't go the way we want them to. It's been a challenge for us all year. We just got to stay positive. I think being at home will help."
Korver said he is not surprised the Cavs got better shots in sweeping the Raptors in the East semifinals.
"That's what happens when you advance in the playoffs," he said. "There are four teams left for a reason. We just have to be ready for shots that we get and know that they might not all be wide-open ones. We have to start making some."
Some Cavs may struggle all game when they don't have their rhythm early, but J.R. Smith insists that's not his problem, even though he's shot just 2-for-16 from the field, including 0-for-7 on 3s, in the series.
"I don't have that conscience to where, what's a good shot, what's a bad shot," Smith said. "I'm going to let it go and I'm going to try to make it. That's for sure."
Pace and ball movement will be key to getting the Cavs offense back on track.
The Celtics have totaled 51 assists on 83 made field goals, while the Cavs have 36 on 68.
"The ball, when everyone is touching it, it gets energy and it makes guys feel good," center Tristan Thompson said Thursday. "As a player, you feel way more comfortable making a play if you touch it every possession. Not just if you're scoring, but if you just feel the ball instead of going five possessions and just getting the ball and you have to shoot it with five seconds on the clock.
"You got to get the ball hopping, and if we get bodies moving we got the athletes and the players that if we can cause triggers, that's going to be in our favor."
The fix may come down to pace, which Lue has been preaching since he took over for David Blatt in 2016. The Cavs have the second-slowest pace among playoff teams with a 93.5 rating, which estimates the number of possessions per 48 minutes. The Celtics are 13th at 94.17, but it is seemingly more of an issue for the Cavs' older roster.
"One of the things we definitely talked about the most was pace," Korver said. "Very rarely in the playoffs is your first option going to be open. So you have to keep on passing the ball, you have to keep on moving, keep setting screens, take the ball out of bounds faster, run the court faster and make them make mistakes.
"Because if we play slow, they're just too good. I think that will help with us getting better shots, help us make more shots and help us play with more energy."
