SAN ANTONIO _ There was a danger in the no-holds-barred, clear-the-air team meeting Monday in which Cavaliers center Kevin Love started out as the target and, as he observed, by the time it ended "most people were a target."
And the Cavs are embarking down that path.
The session didn't have the desired effect. As they lost for the 10th time in the last 13 games Tuesday night at AT&T Center, the Cavs battled the same issues against the short-handed San Antonio Spurs that they had before they left home. Their energy ebbed and flowed. They didn't defend anyone.
Eight games into his comeback from a torn labrum in his right hip, Isaiah Thomas showed no signs of physical improvement, falling down repeatedly as his legs couldn't keep up with his desired speed. Eighteen Cavs turnovers led to 21 Spurs points. Forward LaMarcus Aldridge was unstoppable on the high pick-and-roll, virtually as unguardable as the Thunder's Steven Adams had been in a blowout loss Saturday.
"I mean, if we're gonna speak out and talk, we gotta back it up," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. "And I mean we didn't do that tonight. We talked about it this morning. It could be healthy, but you've gotta do something about it."
Now what looks like a fractured team with on-court trust issues may have further eroded that trust.
According to Jason Lloyd of The Athletic, Thomas and Dwyane Wade were the meeting's instigators. ESPN's Dave McMenamin said the session highlighted the division between the Cavs' old and new guard, which would seemingly leave LeBron James stuck in the middle considering his close friendship with Wade.
After the game, Thomas dressed and left quickly. Wade talked mainly about James becoming the seventh player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points.
Lue has tried to strengthen the team's bond. They enjoyed a wine tasting trip to Napa during a Christmas road swing to California and Utah. They spent extra time in Toronto and Orlando during a five-city excursion this month.
Yet as much as the Cavs talk about what needs to be done, there is no sense that they are willing to fight together to do it.
Asked how the Spurs game got away in the final five minutes, Wade said, "I don't know. Pick this one, pick the last one, they're all getting away from us. We're in a funk and we've got to figure out a way to get out of it at some point."
With eight new players this season, there is no hint of the closeness the Cavs shared during their run to the 2016 championship. Few remnants from the friendships fostered by something so simple as "Lil' Kev," a photograph ripped from a magazine of a male model who resembled Love.
Something feels like it's missing and it's not likely to be fixed by a lineup change.
The roster could be remade before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski and Brian Windhorst, the Cavs are on the verge of trading Iman Shumpert, Channing Frye and a draft pick to the Sacramento Kings for guard George Hill, considered a defensive upgrade.
But that's not going to move the needle much. As the Cavs stressed accountability Monday, there is so much more that could be done.
The performances of J.R. Smith, in a two-season funk that has made him virtually unplayable, and Jae Crowder have not been deserving of starter's minutes. Love's impact has diminished with Thomas as the starting point guard; perhaps Lue will move him back to his natural spot at power forward and re-insert Tristan Thompson as the starting center, even though he's a shell of his 2016 playoff self.
Lue could decide to play James with Kyle Korver, not sub one for the other. He could use rookie forward Cedi Osman. He might take the pressure off Thomas and briefly go back to Jose Calderon at point guard, who is 16-8 as a starter.
Lue was watching the Cavs' body language against the Spurs, and it was alarming.
"I saw guys, when it got tough, we just gotta stay together," Lue said. "Some guys got frustrated because they missed shots, some guys are frustrated because they can't get their rhythm. Some guys are frustrated when they get scored on. It's a combination of a lot of things. But, for the most part, just got to stay together and continue to play the game."
To stay together implies that the 2017-18 Cavs have ever been together, which is surely in question.
The Cavs remain in third place in the Eastern Conference, but are just four games out of missing the playoffs. With roster additions and injuries to several players, they are still trying to mesh, which didn't seem like an issue when they were winning 18 out of 19 in November and December with nine healthy players.
Love's observation about the oldest team in the league Tuesday revealed a serious flaw.
"We felt like tonight there were some good lapses and some lapses where we just didn't (have it)," Love said. "We looked like a young team. So, we need to play like the veteran group that we are. A group that has been tested and has a lot of new faces that can adapt and be a part of something special."
The roster can still be reconfigured, some of the players who don't fit sent elsewhere. But in the wake of the meeting that might have opened more wounds than it repaired, the hope that the Cavs will become a tight-knit team by April looks just as fragile as their psyches.
