The Cleveland Cavaliers dropped another home contest on Thursday night, falling 126-113 to the Toronto Raptors at Rocket Arena. In the loss, one of the Cavs' most persistent problems reared its ugly head once again: their uncanny struggles in the second quarter.
Against Toronto, Cleveland was outscored 38-24 in the second frame of action. In the end, that ended up being a big reason for the loss, with the Cavaliers ending up with a +1 margin in the other three quarters of play. And unfortunately, anyone who's been watching this team every game knows that this was far from the only game this team has struggled in this particular area.
This isn't just an eye test thing, either. The numbers back the trend up in a shocking way. As of this writing, the Cavs register with the fifth-lowest net rating in the association in second quarters. During the second frame of action, they are registering a 108.9 offensive rating and a 124.8 defensive rating for the season. Frankly, that's not just questionable, it's downright shocking for a team as talented as Cleveland.
The Cavaliers need an improved process in the second quarter
Let's examine exactly what happened in the second quarter against the Raptors. The Cavaliers committed 11 combined fouls and turnovers, and missed 11 of their 21 shot attempts as well. Maybe even more alarming than their own turnover and foul numbers was the shooting percentage they allowed from Toronto. The Raps finished the quarter making 14 of 21 shot attempts, good for a stunning 67% efficiency rate.
That's of course going to lead to a loss if you allow a team to shoot that well over the course of a full game. But even just giving up such a hot stretch for a short period can bury you when you find yourself in a close contest in the final few minutes. It's hard to point to a much bigger issue for this team as of right now.
Cleveland headed into this year with some lofty expectations after finishing last season with a second-best in franchise history 64 wins in the regular season. There have been some injury troubles to make things a bit more complicated, but the results have still been underwhelming to this point in the season.
An 8-5 record is far from reason to panic, but it's clear the Cavs have to address their volatility in second quarters. Improved ball security and refined processes at both ends of the floor during this period will go a long way toward making this team look like the Eastern Conference favorite it was touted as back in the offseason.