Last month the Cleveland Cavaliers had a very up-and-down performance.

The Cavs were 7-8 in January, with  losses to teams like the Bulls, Mavs, Jazz, and Trail Blazers. Then they had a three-game skid to the Pelicans, Spurs, and Kings. All games were lost by less than 5 points. If you watched the games, they did not look like the Cavs from before.

The Cavs recently are in the trade market for playmakers. They’re also holding workouts for playmaking free agents. This is good for their roster, as on paper there isn’t a clear playmaker on their squad, other than Lebron James.

The player who is close to being a playmaker is Kyrie Irving. He has the ability to penetrate defenses and kick the ball out to sharpshooters spotting up, but Irving doesn’t do it often. Irving is more of a shot creator. The Cavs are lacking that pass-first guard.

In the month of February for the Cavs, they need to execute on all cylinders to make up for January. They started the month right by blowing out the Timberwolves 125-97. The Cavs that game looked like the championship Cavs from last summer.

The teams the Cavs face this month are the Knicks, Pacers, Wizards, Thunder, Nuggets, Bulls and Bucks. They face the Knicks, Timberwolves and Pacers twice.

Theoretically, they could go undefeated this month, but these games aren’t played on paper.

Keys for the team this month are to sign a playmaker to take the load off of James, who as of now is their primary playmaker. Hopefully J.R. Smith recovers from his thumb injury and around March at this time will be playing again. The Cavs have to beat the teams they face in the Eastern Conference to show the teams ranked below them who’s the true No. 1 seed in the East.

Lastly, their main objective will be to beat the Bulls. They haven’t beaten them yet this season, and this month will be the third time facing them.