Kyle Korver Talks Cavaliers' Struggles, Says Ty Lue Is in 'Tough Spot'

Despite Saturday's embarrassing 148-124 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue said he doesn't have any lineup changes planned, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com.

Guard Kyle Korver offered his support.

"Ty's in a tough spot, he really is," Korver said, per McMenamin. "I think he really cares about the spirit of our team and trying to keep guys positive and keep guys rolling in the same direction. I think there's always speculation any time the team is not winning every game. Change the lineup and this and that. But you've seen that go bad, too, when coaches start jerking guys in and out of the lineup and it's a blame game."

While the Cavaliers apparently aren't going to change any of the personnel on the court, it is impossible to deny their recent struggles. They have dropped 10 out of 14 and look lost on the defensive side.

They are a mere 29th in the league in defensive rating, per NBA.com, and have allowed more than 100 points in 10 of their last 11 games. And the one contest in which they didn't give up triple digits was a loss to the Indiana Pacers.

Even with the defensive issues, Korver pointed to the potential pitfalls with a lineup change.

"If you're the person that got jerked out of the lineup, you feel like it's your fault," he said. "If you change the lineup and it works, that's one thing. Change the lineup and it doesn't work, that's another thing, so no one thinks about the lineups more than Ty does, and it's a tough job."

The sharp shooter isn't the only one who commented on Lue's status after Saturday's loss.

"I would hope not, but really don't know," LeBron James said when asked about the chance Lue will be fired, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. "I don't know what's going to happen with our team. I have no idea what conversations have been going on. I've been trying to stay as laser-sharp as I can to keep my guys ready to go out and play."

Things won't get much easier for the Cavaliers in the immediate future with the next five coming against teams that are at least .500, including Tuesday's matchup with the San Antonio Spurs.

However, they are still the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference and have plenty of time to turn things around. McMenamin pointed out midseason struggles are nothing new considering Cleveland started 19-20 in 2014-15 and appeared to sleepwalk down the stretch in 2016-17 before reaching the NBA Finals both seasons.

Even with the past to fall back on, Cleveland will need better defensive efforts than Saturday's if it hopes to reach the Finals four straight years.