The Cleveland Cavaliers stumbled out of the gate, but there’s plenty to be excited about as they sit at a 3-4 record. Donovan Mitchell is tied for the league lead in scoring, while Evan Mobley is tied for fifth in total blocks. The main offseason additions, Max Strus and Georges Niang, are seamless fits. And The Land’s defense has shown signs of being as suffocating as last year despite key guys missing in almost every match.
For now, the Cavs have a defensive rating of 109.9, good enough for the 11th-best defensive rating, while scoring 107. Inside the arc, Cleveland’s defense is superior to all, as other teams log just 48.3 percent of two-point attempts. Given the firepower on offense and another gear left to reach on D, the negative differential will not last.
In Sunday’s win over the Golden State Warriors, the hosts feasted on their rivals’ inability to generate rim pressure and forced 18 possession changes that turned into 11 points off turnovers. The downside is that Cleveland failed to close 17 extra tries that generated as many points.
We’ll begin in the paint.
With Jarrett Allen missing five games and with some new wing players brought in, Cleveland’s paint protection could have been a lot worse. Instead, Cleveland’s paint marks are sixth-best in the NBA, permitting 44.9 opponent points in the square.
Switching has been sharp mostly, and Caris LeVert’s length on top of the ball is valuable to slow it down. Defending pick-and-roll in drop coverage, blitzing and forcing handlers to the baseline has worked well for the Cavaliers, too.
A night after getting humiliated at home by the New York Knicks on Halloween, the Cavaliers traveled to Gotham City and got the win in a rematch game. In that one, they stifled their abusers to 40 points in the box on 19.3 percentage points below the average efficiency in the restricted area.
In Sunday’s win over the Golden State Warriors, Cleveland’s backline defenders overwhelmed their visitors, giving up just 24 points in the paint on 37.5 percent shooting.
Although, in seven games, Cleveland had three off nights protecting the paint, in the opener, seeing the Brooklyn Nets and both times facing the Indiana Pacers at home on Oct. 28 and away in the In-Season Tournament on Nov. 3. On those nights, point-of-attack defenders couldn’t stay with the ball and rivals got downhill in transition too many times. Friday night was Allen’s first game back, and his timing was a bit off, missing a chance to deflect a pass over the top and getting scored on one-on-one.
Opponents convert 37.9 percent of 3-point attempts against the Cavaliers, who have been in man-to-man coverage most of the time. The league average is 35.5 percent.
Sagging off a shooter on the weak side is an exercise in futility because the player giving space isn’t involved in the action and can get burned by the pass. A wing defender overhelping on a drive is equally as bad. The Cavaliers have to be better at trusting teammates who are guarding the ball.
In Indiana, the unit was torched at the top of the key for 13 trays on 24 tries. Miscommunication, not blowing up the handoff quickly and moving the ball around doomed the Cavs. In the dub versus the Warriors, Donovan Mitchell was beat going for the steal on Klay Thompson, getting torched from 29 feet out. In the loss against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland gave too much room to the wings and corners to stop dribble penetration.
Other times, like against the Warriors, little can be done. For example, man may not be fast enough to guard Stephen Curry’s give-and-go with Draymond Green at the top of the key. Mobley nearly was, coming up on Curry when turning the screen and contesting cleanly but it wasn’t enough.
The Cavaliers are 26th in the NBA in this department, recovering 69.1 percent of opponent missed shots, and as a result, have suffered 106 second-chance points. Handing over at least 15 points nightly to another squad is spirit-crushing behavior. Boxing out is necessary, and more than one missed assignment should have any member yanked momentarily to the bench.
Last season, the Cavaliers were 20th in this category. The group must hover over the league average, which is securing around 71 percent, but preferably for it to strive to be elite here. It would prepare them for the playoffs, where defense and rebounding are most important. Eventually, jumpers stop falling and a close game can be seized by getting nastier on the boards and creating contact.
Allen’s return will help Cleveland clean up the glass, but in two outings that he’s been next to Mobley, the unit has yielded 37 second-chance points. This can be fixed with a solid film room session where nobody takes anything personally and upping the volume on box-out drills at practice.
This is an area that head coach J.B. Bickerstaff cannot compromise. Unless a team has the greatness of LeBron James or the excessive riches of the Kevin Durant-led Warriors to offset poor rebounding production, deep playoff trips aren’t happening.