Cleveland Cavaliers: 2 ways the defense can be much better this season

The Cleveland Cavaliers should be better defensively this year, and their performance in two areas will play a significant role in that potential improvement.

The Cleveland Cavaliers had their struggles in 2017-18 on defense. That was stressed throughout the regular season, and while they did play better in the postseason, there was still inconsistency. The Cavaliers will have a rotation that is much younger and should be more athletic than they had last year, which was much more offensively-driven.

As was widely publicized by both the national and local media, the Cavs were 29th in defensive rating. That was the worst mark of any team that made the postseason, and only the Phoenix Suns graded worse, per NBA.com.

If Cleveland didn’t have the league’s fifth-best offensive rating, their record would have been a whole lot different. The Cavaliers are not going to have that kind of offensive capability in 2018-19, so their defense will need to make strides. The rotation will be anything but set-in-stone, like how it was last year, but the results must be better.

Cleveland head coach Tyronn Lue is a disciple of current Los Angeles Clippers head coach and Glenn “Doc” Rivers. Lue is said to be a defensive-minded head coach, and he’ll need to start demonstrating that in terms of his squad’s performance on the floor.

Cleveland has not been near the same defensive team the last two seasons, and now without near the same offensive firepower they’ve had in the prior four years, Lue’s team will need to step it up on D.

The first key area of improvement is near the restricted area, which is defined as 0-4 feet from the rim.