The Cavs faced their third loss in four games against the Pelicans on Saturday, but star players and coach Tyronn Lue are "not concerned" about their slow start.
While their record after six regular season games is 3-3, Tristan Thompson reminded reporters that it's a long season with a lot of games still to play. As for right now, Thompson said they are still trying to figure out their transition defense with LeBron James and eight new players.
"Think about it: It's the first time since LeBron came back that we had that many new guys," Thompson said. "It's the first time, so it's going to be a process. It's going to take some time. It's a long f---ing season. We're going to play a hundred-and-some f---ing games. I'm not worried about it."
The Cavs have been without two starting point guards with Derrick Rose and Isaiah Thomas sidelined due to injuries. While James said, "I'm fine, and we're fine," he also pointed to Rose's injury throwing off Cleveland's starting lineups and hurting the team both defensively and offensively.
"We're out two starting point guards," James said. "I understand this is a long process. We played some different [lineups]. Like I told you guys, we played some crazy lineups that we haven't even played in practice. So we'll continue to get better. There's going to be some games where we don't look as good unfortunately, but that's all part of the process, and we just have to be patient with it until we can become full-strength."
Kevin Love was optimistic as he reiterated the same theme that both Thompson and James hit on of needing patience in a long season. Love gave the Cavs a season-high 26 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes.
"We're really upset," Love said sarcastically when asked about the loss. "If we were in March or April, maybe it'd be a different story. But right now we know we have to get a lot better. We're frustrated. We're pissed off. But in no way are we going to panic. We need to get better, watch a lot of film, energy needs to be there. We all need to be on the same page. We'll get there."
The Cavs will have another chance to figure out their starting lineup while playing at home against the Knicks on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.