INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP) — Even after wins, and there were a bunch of them, the Cavaliers didn’t celebrate. Everything was too easy for them, way too easy.

Loaded with talent, they’re lacking chemistry and cohesion. A championship roster without championship heart.

David Blatt took the fall.

The second-year coach, who guided the Cavs to the NBA Finals in 2015 and had them sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings this season, was shockingly fired on Friday by general manager David Griffin.

Griffin didn’t think the title-chasing Cavaliers were handling prosperity, expectations or acting like a championship team under Blatt, who was 83-40 in less than two seasons. Griffin saw a team going in the wrong direction.

“Sometimes you can win games in this league in the regular season and get worse,” Griffin said at a hastily-arranged new conference at the team’s practice facility. “We were regressing over a period of time. I’m in our locker room a lot, and I knew that there’s just a disconnect there right now. There’s a lack of spirit and connectedness that I just couldn’t accept. And frankly, halfway through the season, I think we have the time to right the ship.”

Griffin said he did not consult superstar LeBron James, who never seemed comfortable with Blatt in charge, or any of Cleveland’s other players.

“This is my decision, this is our basketball staff’s decision,” said Griffin.