The Cleveland Cavaliers are finally looking locked in defensively and it’s about time.
It’s clear that the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to shoot a lot of threes. It’s also clear that they have two of the best offensive weapons in the Association in LeBron James and Kyrie Irving. There’s also that Kevin Love guy, who has been playing a good inside-out game for the Cavs so far in these playoffs. Nonetheless, you still have to play some defense and do the little things in the postseason.
The Cavs weren’t outstanding defensively against the Indiana Pacers, but they’ve turned it up against the Toronto Raptors.
The team defense has been much improved, as Tyronn Lue and the coaching staff have pulled out all the stops.
The Cavs have been on the money in doubling Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan whenever possible and that’s gotten Toronto out of their rhythm for long stretches.
DeRozan is the key isolation scorer for the Raptors and he’s been way off. He’s shooting just 33.3 percent from the field in the first two games of this series and has a net rating of -39.2 according to NBA.com.
Give a fair amount of credit to J.R. Smith, who has been on his every move and is making him take some tough looks. Smith’s individual defense, coupled with help from players like Tristan Thompson and others has made even the good looks tough shots for DeRozan.
If the Raptors don’t get their star producing, they won’t have a chance.
To go along with their defense against the head of the Raptors scoring attack, the Cavs have done a good job of cutting off the driving lanes and not allowing the supporting cast to get comfortable.
So much of this Raptors offense is predicated on 1-on-1 play and getting free throws for the key guys.
Outside of Jonas Valanciunas in Game 2 (23 points in just 20 minutes), it hasn’t been open season in the paint for the team up north.
Considering they were only 23rd in team’s percentage of points from three in the regular season, the Raptors have not been playing the style of game they want.
That said, they’ll need to hit a considerable amount of threes to stay with the Cavs. If Toronto shoots below 30.0 percent of their threes, they won’t be able to keep up with a three-point barrage from the Cavs. Serge Ibaka is going to have to be much more efficient in knocking down perimeter looks, but closeouts have been timely and effective across the board.
The helpside defense has responded for the Cavs and Bron has been everywhere.
The King is in a tie with Bradley Beal for the most total steals (16) of any player in the NBA playoffs, including 3 steals he racked up last night to go along with 2 blocks.
That kind of defense is infectious, and the whole team fed off it. I’m convinced Bron would be a pretty amazing free safety, too.
Now to the glass.
The defensive rebounding has also been on point to start this series, for the most part.
Tristan Thompson is putting up 11.2 boards per game in these playoffs, which would be the best mark for him in his three postseason appearances.
Cleveland seems to be getting many key loose balls and long rebounds, and much of the credit goes to Thompson, whose tenacity has often enabled the Cavs to get easy run-outs for Kyrie, Bron and the rest of the bunch.
Double-T has a plus-minus of 29.0 in this series against the Toronto Raptors according to NBA.com.
He’s quietly set the tone with his team-first play, and the collective effort has followed from J.R. and others.
T-Lue doesn’t need Smith and rest of the Cavs to be holding DeRozan to 5 points in every game, but if they can keep up their individual defensive intensity and focus, they could dispatch a talented Toronto team in just four games.
It’s up to them to keep this concerted effort on the defensive end of the floor. So far, so good.
Hopefully the matchup advantages and lineups keep working out at both ends, because the Cavs will keep rolling if they can be locked in on D, too.
I really hope Lowry’s ankle is okay for the Raptors. He’s had some rough luck this year, and they need all the help they can get in this series.
I wouldn’t want the Cavs to have a defensive cakewalk in order to close out.
Related Story: LeBron, Cavs rout Raptors in Game 2
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