Cavs continue to get the job done in this crucial area defensively

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been quite a resilient bunch so far this season, as despite having one of the toughest schedules, and suffering a litony of injuries/absences already, the team has started out at 13-10. For a still relatively young group, that’s not a small feat to this point.

The Cavaliers have been getting some crucial contributors back in the fold lately, such as Kevin Love and Lauri Markkanen from COVID-19 health and safety protocols/virus complications, for one. Jarrett Allen (non-COVID-19-related illness) and Evan Mobley (right elbow sprain) have both returned since last week, with Mobley doing so in last Saturday’s win over the Orlando Magic.

Meanwhile, although Cleveland did have a five-game skid fairly recently, the Cavs have again gotten some key players back, and players such as Love and Markkanen have gotten in a nice rhythm since their returns. Love’s really starting to heat up, in that realm. It is still sinking in that Collin Sexton will be out for the rest of the season (meniscus surgery), but fortunately, the Cavaliers have hung in there, and are again starting to hit their stride.

Cleveland has won four straight games, and once again, as has been the case for the club to a large degree when they’ve been rolling, their defense and offensive balance has paid dividends. Darius Garland and Ricky Rubio have been on-point often as playmakers, and the Cavaliers have been getting timely perimeter shots to go down, the lobs have been key, and the Cavs’ defense has been stingy for much of the year, generally.

And with the club getting healthier, while Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley have been a crucial reason why the team is making it tough on opponents to convert on the interior, the team has also made it difficult for opponents to get quality looks from three-point range.

That element, to me, has jumped out often in the season, particularly when the Cavs have been healthier, clearly.

The Cavs’ defense of the three-point line and typically sound, impactful contests has paid off for the team often throughout games.

Although the Cavaliers are near the bottom of the league in blocks per game, their size and length has paid off near the rim, and having erasers in Allen and Mobley has made things difficult for opposing drivers there. That’s played into opponents having to finish further out, where Mobley himself has deterred his share of shots, or made those looks tough in switchout situations at times.

Now, of course, opponents have still been able to get paint points in stretches, albeit further out and with contested twos. That’s something the Cavs can live with more from primary defense from Isaac Okoro, Rubio for stretches, and others.

As we touched on, however, while it took a bit to get more in-sync, and the Cavaliers have had their share of injuries, combined with the defense near the rim, Cleveland has done a solid job in terms of keeping opponents in check from beyond the arc.

The Cavaliers this season, thanks some to length, great effort and sound contests are sixth in opponent three-point shooting, and are third in opponent threes made per game. The disparity between the top clubs in that metric and those near the bottom is not much, clearly, but how the Cavs have gotten far better at preventing easy looks from deep throughout the season has been something that’s jumped out to me.

In the last five games, the Cavs are first in opponent made threes per contest, and are #2 in opponent three-point percentage, also, for what it’s worth. This is not including Cleveland’s current game against the Utah Jazz, who are a tremendous perimeter shooting team, as a side note, though, and this has been key.

Either way, the contests on-ball and from rotators have typically been on-point, which has been key for this Wine and Gold team that’s starting to roll. And though there are lapses from young guys at times, by and large, the group has made it difficult for crucial perimeter scoring threats to get clean looks.

Hopefully that attention to detail continues to play out in this upcoming stretch.

But with the Cavs offense getting going of late with them healthier, and guys such as Lauri Markkanen popping off from deep, and the bench play being solid on both ends, maybe the Cavs can keep it going, even with some tough upcoming games ahead.