1 stud and 1 dud for Cavs from near-comeback against Timberwolves

Cavs dud: Lack of defensive urgency in the first half

For the dud in this one, I have to go with the lack of defensive urgency in the first half.

In another game from this past week with a slow start, the Cavaliers got bombarded defensively in the first half. No, not having Mitchell and Allen, and Dean Wade, also, didn’t help.

Still, the Cavs just seemed to be multiple steps slow too often in the first half, and D’Angelo Russell, Karl-Anthony Towns and Minnesota benefited greatly from that. The Cavaliers were down 67-50 going into halftime, and while the team appeared to be more in-tune with their closeouts to shooters in the third quarter, and later, the TWolves had far too many walk-in shots and got layups in transition.

That wasn’t all just because Allen and Wade, to some extent, weren’t in there.

Now, in fairness, the Cavaliers concluded a five-game mostly-California road trip on Friday night, and with the absences confirmed before the game, the team looking sluggish for much of the contest wasn’t inconceivable. But it is paramount that the Cavs get off to better starts in games and weeks ahead, as they often did in that eight-game winning streak.

Cleveland’s fourth quarter effort and nearly pulling off a huge comeback (they were at one point down 24) could be a boost for this Wine and Gold team, on the plus side for them to snap this four-game skid. And hopefully, upcoming rest days pay dividends.