How soon is too soon to worry about the Cavs’ old habits?

We knew this season wasn't going to be decided in October.

We knew there would be growing pains, obviously, even after a playoff run with James Harden to still acclimate him to make adjustments and things that Kenny Atkinson had to figure out going into this 2026-2027 season.

But after watching Cleveland's season end in the Eastern Conference Finals against the New York Knicks just a few months ago, and after watching the Cavs squander a 29-point lead against the Philadelphia 76ers in one of the most embarrassing season opening losses you could imagine.

There is a difference between acknowledging that it's early and pretending these issues don't matter.

And Saturday night against Brooklyn, all of those things kind of came back to fruition.

And that game might have been even more frustrating in a different kind of way.

The Philadelphia collapse was agonizing because of the historical nature of the loss, the opponent and the emotional baggage attached to it.

Obviously, LeBron James being on the other side, the Philadelphia 76ers looking like a completely different team than they have in years past.

And Cleveland found a way to turn a game it had in control into a loss that immediately brought back memories

of how its season ended in May.

But the Brooklyn Nets game was a reminder that Cleveland doesn't need a championship contender on the other side of the floor to make things difficult for itself, right? The betting line coming into this game was 10 points in favor of Cleveland before tip-off.

The Cavs won by only four points.

And Brooklyn nearly made that game a whole lot more interesting, despite putting itself in a nearly unwinnable position down the stretch.

Because in the final minute, the Nets lost their two best shooters in the game to fouls.

Obviously, Michael Porter Jr. being the latter, putting his hands to his head after he committed the sixth foul and heard it from the announcer that that would end his game for that evening.

And the Cavs still almost lost this

game.

The Cavs spent the fourth quarter hanging on for dear life.

Brooklyn outscored Cleveland 41 to 29 in the final period.

The Nets collected nine offensive rebounds, made 12 three-pointers in the second half, and the Cleveland Cavaliers still committed 12 turnovers over that same stretch.

That's a recipe for disaster in any scenario against any opponent.

It's the kind of recipe we've seen this team cook up before.

The free throw shooting is another thing I can't stop thinking about, guys.

Cleveland with 29 for 38 at the line, shooting 76.3%.

That is simply not good enough when you're trying to put a game away, especially against a team that shouldn't even be on the floor with you.