2 studs and 1 dud for Cavs in Tuesday’s win over the Pacers

Cavs dud: The defense for much of the game

As I alluded to before, the Cavaliers defense has been pretty bad lately. Giving up 124 points to any team is pretty bad, but giving that many points up to the league’s 18th-rated offense is something that would have been crazy before the All-Star break. The Pacers shot a scorching 16-of-32 from three, and on top of that, they shot nearly 54% from the field. Granted, it’s not every day Tyrese Haliburton and Buddy Hield combine to go 8-of-11 from three, but still the defense needs to improve.

When the defense begins to improve, the offense only gets better. With Allen out, it will be up to Mobley to hold down the paint. Tonight he did well with 12 boards, and a block. After tonight’s defensive performance, it should be getting very hard for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to deny Lamar Stevens more minutes.

Even though the dud last night was assuredly the defense, there still seems to be a lot of times where the offense gets stagnant. When the offense isn’t scoring, it becomes increasingly hard to continue to put the clamps on the opposition. However, in my opinion the Cavs best offense comes from great defense.

The Cavaliers roster is filled with guys like Isaac Okoro, Lauri Markkanen, and even Dean Wade, who are great in the open floor. On top of that, Darius Garland has become quite the wizard with the ball on the break. So when Okoro is shutting down a ball-handler on the perimeter, forcing a contested shot, it gives Mobley a great look at the rebound, then the outlet pass to get the move going. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Mobley run the break when Garland is not on the floor.

I could go on and on about how exciting the Cavs offense has been at times, and how it can be much better, but it all starts with the defense. Even without Jarrett Allen in the lineup (unfortunately indefinitely), the Cavaliers are a much better team than the Pacers.

So like I said, a win is a win, but let’s learn some things about last night’s outcome. The good, and the bad.