1 stud and 2 duds for Cavs in loss to Raptors on Thursday

Cavs two duds from Thursday’s L to the Raps: Defensive rebounding and communication

The Cavaliers defense has not been the same post-All-Star break, as we’ve often hit on, and even without Jarrett Allen involved in recent weeks, this team has still conceded too many open looks throughout contests, either way. That was again the case in this one against the Raps.

There were seemingly wide-open looks both from penetration on the interior and the transition game too much, and while the defense was better in the third as opposed to the fourth, the contests were too late on a number of occasions.

And in a number of other instances, though Cleveland’s initial defense was fine, whenever it seemed as if the Cavs could potentially get a run going, the Raptors secured key offensive rebounds, either leading to reseting and better possessions, or open catch-and-shoot looks they knocked down.

Toronto had 21 second chance points, and led by Pascal Siakam’s 6-of-7 three-point shooting clip, and tying a season-high with 35 points, the Raptors connected on 16-of-37 from three, a 43.2 percent hit rate. Sure, Siakam was ridiculously hot on Thursday night, but overall, the Cavs’ miscommunications defensively played some into that, and as has been the case for much of the season, Cleveland’s defensive rebounding positioning was subpar.

The Cavs will try to bounce back on Saturday night against the Chicago Bulls. Currently, Cleveland is still in the #6 spot in the East, even after this last loss, given their tiebreaker over Toronto. The Cavaliers still have work to do the rest of the way to secure a top-6 seed, however. The Washington Wizards’ last loss to the Milwaukee Bucks did lock up at least a play-in spot for the Cavs, as a silver lining.