Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from loss to Minnesota Timberwolves

The Cavs’ transition defense is a nightmare.

Cleveland isn’t skilled enough to win games without executing all aspects of the game. For the second game in a row, the Cavs lost because they were destroyed in transition.

The Cavs allowed 22 points in transition in the first half alone against Minnesota. This is on the heels of giving up 32 points in transition to the Raptors on Wednesday. Cleveland doesn’t have the offense or half-court defense to sustain those numbers at all.

Turnovers and the pace of play are two reasons why the Cavs are struggling so much in this area. Many of these transition opportunities happen because the Cavs aren’t protecting the ball. They turned the ball over 14 times leading to 22 points for Minnesota.

The Cavs’ desire to play fast has also hurt their transition defense. There were many times that the Cavs weren’t able to get back on the defensive end after pushing it on the offensive end.

These are the side effects of trying to push the pace and are probably two areas that are going to hold the Cavs back most this season.

When teams have All-Star players like Butler on the other side, in addition to a talent like Wiggins, those odd-man situations can destroy teams like the Cavs, who don’t have the talent to make up for those easy baskets being conceded.