1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs in unfortunate loss to Nets on Friday

Cavs dud at the Nets: Defensive rebounding

I was considering going with non-Garland three-point shooting in this one, as Cleveland went 5-of-21 aside from DG from deep, just 23.8 percent. With Garland’s production factored in, the Cavaliers were still just 8-of-27 from three, a 29.6 percent clip.

However, the Cavs did generate plenty of good looks, and I did still think the ball movement was better than only having 19 assists. Cleveland had just eight turnovers as well, for what it’s worth.

So with that sort of thing in mind, in that realm, to me, the overwhelming dud here at the Nets on Friday night was the Cavs’ defensive rebounding. The Nets had 13 offensive boards here, and the kicker was that they had 25 second chance points. The Cavs had 10 offensive boards; unfortunately, they had just six second chance points.

I have to give former Cav Andre Drummond his share of credit on Friday for his offensive rebounds and putbacks, which were a significant part of his 15 points. And even at times when putbacks weren’t there, extra possessions and additional three-point looks for Brooklyn in general off that crushed the Wine and Gold.

I didn’t think that the Cavaliers’ initial defense on a number of those occasions was necessarily substandard. Even still, Cleveland’s defensive rebounding positioning was off in too many instances, and Mobley and Lauri Markkanen, realistically, have had that issue for much of the year, in fairness.

Anyhow, while Brooklyn had some big, crucial runs throughout the contest, and outscored Cleveland 35-19 in the fourth quarter, often when watching this game, I kept coming back to the defensive rebounding woes. That’s lingered over the course of the season, and sans Jarrett Allen again, it was more so apparent.

This outcome wasn’t ideal on Friday, and it seems likely that the Cavs could very well be in the 9-10 play-in game next week, as Milwaukee is another very tough opponent on Sunday, and the Hawks have the tiebreaker over the Cavs. That’s with Brooklyn also moving to #7, too.

It was nice that Mobley was back and very effective, on a positive note, and perhaps we could see Allen back for the play-in. And the Wine and Gold willing their way back into things in this last one was good to see. Maybe they can carry that forward against the Bucks, and end up in the 7-8 contest after all.