The Miami Heat are in town to play the Cavs. You don’t even have to look at the schedule to know it.

All you have to do is click on a local sports website, turn on the TV, open the paper – and all the evidence is there.

LeBron is back in the news. People are talking about him. People are talking about him coming back to the Cavs. People are talking about him not coming back to the Cavs. People are printing t-shirts and handing them out. People are spending money on billboards outside of his old high school in Akron.

Maybe someone will jump out of the stands at tonight’s game and beg LeBron to come back, as happened two seasons ago. Maybe that person won’t get leveled and cuffed by security. Maybe they will.

Maybe the Goodyear blimp will hover overhead bearing a LeBron-themed message. Maybe someone will fork over the money for a plane banner, though it might be kind of hard to see against the typical gray November sky in Cleveland.

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We’ve been patient with the Cavs. We – or at least most of us – bought into the idea that the team was in need of a complete rebuild after LeBron left. We knew it would take a few years. We knew there would be losing.

It’s been a few years. A few years that included two No. 1 overall picks and two No. 4 overall picks. Few teams get the chance to draft four top-five picks in the span of three years. Few teams win the NBA draft lottery twice in the span of three years.

But the losing? It’s still there. And it might be worse than ever.

After 166 losses in three years, Byron Scott was shown the door as Cavs coach. Mike Brown re-entered, ostensibly to rebuild a team culture centered on staunch defense. It would be worth any of the offensive shortcomings that typically plague Brown-coached teams if it means a defense that clamps down on passing lanes and challenges every shot the other team takes. Because you simply don’t contend for an NBA title without elite defense.

Twelve games into Brown’s second go-around as Cavs coach, and the Cavs are 4-8. The record is bad enough, but then you actually watch the team play, and you realize they’re lucky to even have won four.

In Wednesday night’s loss to the Wizards, the Cavs didn’t even try to play for three quarters. The only player who gave max effort on every play was Matthew Dellavedova – an undersized, undertalented and undrafted rookie who has to play all-out unless he wants a seat on the first bus to Canton.

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When a Cleveland team makes national headlines, it’s either because something really amazing happened or something bad happened. And let’s be honest, since this is Cleveland Sports we’re talking about, Cleveland teams only make national headlines when something unfortunate happens.

The Cleveland Cavaliers made national headlines last week when ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that a players-only meeting got contentious after the Cavaliers' blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

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It took two overtimes, the ability to overcome three huge shots by the 76ers, new lineups and three potential game winning shots by Kyrie Irving for the Cavs to beat the Philadelphia 76ers on the second night of a home-and-home series. The 76ers are a team that was not projected to be very good prior to the season. Michael Carter-Williams did not come into the league with much fanfare. The biggest storyline with the franchise was how bad they were supposed to be and how they are supposedly tanking for Andrew Wiggins.

The Philadelphia 76ers didn't get the memo. They may very well finish the season with a very bad record, but the fact of the matter is that Brett Brown has them playing very hard. Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes, Thaddeus Young and Michael Carter-Williams are all playing out of their mind. When the 76ers played the Cavs in Columbus, Brett Brown raised a lot of eyebrows when he said that his roster has "6 NBA players." The remaining 9 players on the roster evidently didn't get the memo.

Cleveland started the game well. They made 14 out of 25 shots in the first quarter which left them with a 30-27 lead. They could have defended better to start the game. The 76ers shot 47.4% in the first quarter, which is pretty much in line with how they finished the game. Alonzo Gee made his first start this season. Earl Clark did not register a minute for the Cavs. Gee only played 20 minutes throughout the entire game.

The Cavs gave up 37 points on 13-21 shooting in the third quarter. Things were looking questionable for the Cavs during this stretch. Cleveland countered with 22 points on 5-14 shooting. Needless to say, the Cavs were lucky to come away winners after such a poor effort in the third quarter.

Cleveland outscored the 76ers 32-22 in the fourth quarter. They also held Philadelphia to 38.9% shooting and they forced 4 key turnovers.

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