You have all seen the stat online; the Cleveland Cavaliers are rewriting the history books. At the time of this post, the Cavs have the most turnovers through eight games of the postseason since 1996, with 141.

Not exactly the type of notoriety one hopes for from their favorite basketball club. However, through eight games, it certainly has felt that the Cavaliers are their own worst enemy. Even in the games that they have persevered in, there have been long stretches of lapses in judgment and ill-advised passes.

With the way the Cavaliers currently run their offense, a lot of those possessions run through their two-star guards, James Harden and Donovan Mitchell. Both of which, to varying degrees, have been the main culprits as to why the turnover count is so high, and the offense looks so inept at times.

Donovan Mitchell, who is looking for another max extension this postseason, has frankly been far below what one would expect from a player who is the franchise’s star. Mitchell, more times than not this postseason, looks like someone forcing the issue. What makes this jarring is that Mitchell, in the regular season, was fantastic, looking like someone who could erase a lot of the team’s offensive woes with his ability to drop 30 points without even blinking.

Now that the defenses are scheming to neutralize him, Mitchell has looked about as mortal as we have seen him. Mitchell is shooting 44% from the field in the postseason, a nearly 5% drop in efficiency from the regular season. It’s not just the stats that show Mitchell is playing worse; it is the simple eye test of game to game. It often appears like Mitchell is trying to figure out his spots in the postseason.

Mitchell is often seen settling for floaters or pull-up threes rather than using his elite athleticism to get to the rim and force the defense to collapse to meet him. This has neutralized part of what made Mitchell so dynamic. We are also seeing this affect him getting to the line. Mitchell is currently averaging two free throw attempts a game, as opposed to the regular season, where he was getting there six times a game.

The best players in the league know, in the postseason, that defenses aim to take away what you are good at — so when they take your fastball, what other pitches are in your arsenal? I think we are seeing that Mitchell, when met with the team’s best defender, believes someone else has a more ideal matchup and attempts to play facilitator. Frankly, Mitchell, at best, is a slightly above-average playmaker when it comes to setting guys up. That’s why Mitchell is averaging nearly three turnovers a game.

Harden is the greater offender in this regard, currently contributing a nauseating 5.4 turnovers a game (43 total). With turnover numbers as high as eight turnovers in Game 3 against Toronto and seven turnovers in Game 1 against the Detroit Pistons, as well as Game 4 in Toronto.

This isn’t a case of being unlucky — this is just sloppy play from one of the league’s premier distributors. Harden admitted as much after Game 1 against the Pistons.

At times with his turnovers, they looked almost so casual that it appeared someone had slipped a Xanax into his Gatorade. The lack of urgency and importance on every turnover was just one kick to the crotch after another to the Cavaliers as they clawed their way back to an almost improbable comeback against the Pistons.

Harden has more positives than negatives in the postseason. While Mitchell has fluctuated in his impact, Harden — despite shooting the team in the foot and making up almost a third of the team’s turnovers in the postseason — has been a stabilizer on offense at his most efficient.

However, the issue with Harden is that when he is on the floor, he needs to be on the ball. Therefore, all of his impact is going to come from those on-ball opportunities, and right now, that comes with the lax nature of his turnovers. Time will tell whether Game 1 against Detroit was the wake-up call Harden needed to see that this team cannot overcome his lapses in judgment or sloppy ball handling.

The fact of the matter is that there is proof that Cleveland is talented enough to overcome their two best players faltering at the highest level. Cleveland is currently in the second round of the postseason with Mitchell and Harden not being at their best — something that would have sunk the prior iterations of the Cavaliers. The other guys are showing up to make up lost ground.

Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley have had their moments in the postseason. We are seeing Max Strus, Sam Merrill, Jaylon Tyson, and Denis Schroeder having their games as well.

This makes the lack of Mitchell and sometimes Harden all the more torturous. If Cleveland’s star backcourt both showed up in a game, the Cavaliers might look nearly unstoppable. As of now, they look as frustrating as any team remaining in the postseason.