NBA Standings 2018: Cavaliers Far Behind Celtics, Rockets Keeping Pace With Warriors

The NBA All-Star break is a little more than a week away, and the league’s top teams sure look like they could use a few days off. The Cleveland Cavaliers (30-21) can’t seem to beat any team that might come close to contending for a title, and even the Golden State Warriors (41-12) have had their struggles of late.

Golden State still sits atop the 2018 NBA standings, though they’ve lost two of their last three games. Cleveland was blown out by the Houston Rockets (38-13) on national TV in their last contest, putting them further out of contention for the No.1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

If the Cavaliers don’t make a significant move before Thursday’s trade deadline, it might be safe to say that they won't finish better than third place in the East. Cleveland trails the Boston Celtics (39-15) by 7.5 games, and the Cavs are 5.5 games behind the Toronto Raptors (36-16) for the No.2 seed.

Cleveland’s 120-88 loss to Houston marked their 12th defeat in 18 games. LeBron James is no longer playing like a top MVP candidate, and the Cavs are playing particularly poorly against the NBA’s best teams.

Since defeating the Celtics in the season opener, Cleveland is winless against all six teams that sit ahead of them in the overall NBA standings. During their 6-12 stretch, the Cavs have been defeated by the Warriors, Celtics, Raptors, Rockets, San Antonio Spurs (34-21) and Minnesota Timberwolves (34-22) by an average of 23.3 points per game.

Since suffering a hip injury in the playoffs, Isaiah Thomas hasn't looked like the same player that finished fifth in last season’s MVP voting. Kevin Love will miss six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his hand.

While Cleveland can’t seem to contend with the NBA’s best teams, Golden State has lost a couple of games to teams that might not even make the postseason. The Warriors lost to the Utah Jazz (25-28) by 30 points, and they lost to the Denver Nuggets (29-25) by seven points in their most recent contest.

The losses probably won’t mean anything in Golden State’s quest to win a third title in four years, but they have kept Houston alive for the NBA’s best record. The Rockets trail the Warriors by just one game in the loss column.

Houston is 2-1 against Golden State this season.