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1 stud, 1 dud in Cavs road loss to the Warriors

By Josh Cornelissen

Cedi Osman, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images
Cedi Osman, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images /
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Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers. Photo by Soobum Im/Getty Images /

1 dud in Cavs’ loss to the Warriors: Defensive Rebounding

The Cleveland Cavaliers start three 7-footers (Jarrett Allen is technically 6’11”) to form a unique but effective jumbo lineup. With Allen, Evan Mobley and Lauri Markkanen the Cavs easily have the tallest frontcourt in the league. They played against an opposing frontcourt made up of a 6’9″ center, a 6’6″ power forward and a 6’7″ small forward. In other words, the Cavs had over a foot of height advantage across all three positions.

Classically that height advantage should give the Cavs two key strengths: interior defense and rebounding. The defense held up its end of the bargain, as detailed above. Unfortunately, the Cavs defense was completely hamstrung by this massive front line’s inability to clean the glass after stops.

The Warriors pummeled the Cavaliers for 22 offensive rebounds, again and again keeping possessions alive. The only way this Warriors team was going to find enough points to win was if they got extra bites at the apple, and the Cavaliers simply opened the gate to the orchard in this one. The Warriors had a 39.3 offensive rebound percentage in this game; the Memphis Grizzlies lead the league with a 29 percent mark in that category.

Kevon Looney was a particular problem for the Cavs. Going against smaller, longer bigs he consistently got into position and bodied the Cavs’ rebounders out of the way, drawing in nine total offensive rebounds in this game. All season long a single player has grabbed at least nine offensive rebounds only seven times.

What was the simple impact of Cleveland’s annihilation on the defensive glass? The Cavs and their struggling offense got up 75 shots; the Warriors got up 97. That’s how you lose a game, and lose it badly, where you outshoot the opponent by a significant margin.

This inability to clean the glass has been a problem for the Cavaliers all season despite their size. Cleveland is third in total defense, fifth in effective field goal percentage against, and second in free throw rate. The problem is that they are just 18th in defensive rebounding percentage, which is inexplicable given their size. Teams with much smaller frontcourt are embarrassing Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley and company.

Next. Raise the Roof: Why the Cavs should trade Collin Sexton. dark

This was a winnable game, a chance for the Cavs to spoil the return of Klay Thompson, to shut down the party from one of their recent nemeses. Instead, an anemic offense and a shameful showing on the defensive glass led to a 96-82 defeat, one of the more stinging losses of the season.