Watch Out NBA: The Cleveland Cavaliers Are Coming

Jan 19, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center Timofey Mozgov (20) defends a shot by Chicago Bulls guard Aaron Brooks (0) in the fourth quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Defense

After half a season, it seems like the Cavaliers have finally figured out that in order to be a dominant force, you need to play defense.

Is playing defense fun though? New acquisition Iman Shumpert has an interesting take on that, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

"“Well, the fun part is when you get it and go on offense. That’s what makes defense fun. I can get it faster and then we don’t have to play under coach’s rules. A lot of times, you know coaches want to run certain things. They want to be patient. They want to use the whole 24- (second shot clock). And sometimes you just want to get those steals and get out there and do the stuff that you do in layup lines. That’s the fun part on defense. Don’t let anybody tell you any different. It’s not fun sitting in the stance, but when you get that little finger on the ball and then you got another guy that comes, shoots the gap, who taps it out and this guy swings it across the court and you get a 3 or a dunk? That’s fun. That’s fun.”"

As a player who doesn’t necessary enjoy playing defense, I can definitely see where Shumpert is coming from and quite frankly, it is becoming fun to watch this team play defense as of late.

They are getting into the passing lanes, contesting shots, communicating with one another and maybe most importantly, they trust each other. We are no longer seeing teams get easy layups and shots like we saw in the early parts of the season. Cleveland has finally bought in on that end of the floor and the results have started to show.

While the improved defense is definitely a full team effort, you cannot understate the impact Mozgov has had on this team. Cleveland needed a rim protector and now we are seeing why David Griffin gave up two first-round picks to get the big Russian, as the Cavaliers have had a defensive rating of 98 over the last five games with Mozgov on the court. This 98 rating would place them SECOND in the entire league. Guards who drive the lane against Cleveland now need to think about how they are going to get their shot up against a giant. This also allows the perimeter defenders to be more aggressive, as they know Mozgov is there to back them up. This comes back to the trust factor- the players now trust one another and now they have each other backs.

Another thing to take from this recent revival (if it was ever living) on the defensive end for the Cavs is that over the last three games, the team has hold its opponents to under 41.8% from the field and under 94 points. Teams can no longer have season best nights on the offensive end against Cleveland, as open shots and layups are not showing up as frequently as they once were.

We all know that to be a championship caliber team in this league, you need to have good defense. It’s a proven fact. For the first half of the season, it seemed like defense was the one thing that was going to hold Cleveland back from making noise in the playoffs. Things have changed now though, as the Cavs have discovered the magic in playing defense and if they keep up this defensive energy and effort, the rest of the league should be scared, very scared.

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