1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs in Sunday’s tune-up win over Bucks

Cavs Dud: Defense

I’m not going to make this too long, but it has to be mentioned that this was a terrible defensive performance from both teams. It was pretty much a tune-up for the playoffs for both teams, but I will use this to call out the Cavaliers porous defense lately.

At one point this season, they were only behind the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors in defensive rating. At this point, they’ve dropped to sixth, and have been 24th in post-All-Star break play.

Jarrett Allen‘s absence has been a major problem for the Cavaliers, and with his status uncertain for the play-in seemingly it appears still, it’s hard to get super confident heading into Tuesday. However, like I said, in a one-game setting, anything can happen. With that being said, the Cavs have given up over 100 points in their last eight games. Only three of those games have been wins, so I think you get the picture.

Going into the matchup with Brooklyn on Tuesday, personally I think it’s going to be a tall order for the Cavaliers. With Allen’s status uncertain, as of this writing, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley will really need to play well to keep the Cavs in the game. But, the biggest X-factor in the game will be Lauri Markkanen. He’s been hot of late, so that bodes well for the guys in wine and gold.

However, if he matches up with Durant for legit stretches, he has to find a way to slow him down, or it will be a long night. Overall, this should be a pretty great week of basketball.