After a 10-game absence, Jarrett Allen made his long-awaited return in the Cleveland Cavaliers' last game against the Miami Heat. A team that was crying out for defensive help got their man in the middle back. It did not make the difference and immediately solve anything.
The Cavaliers won the matchup, but they did so in yet another track meet. They still surrendered 128 points in regulation to the Heat. Luckily for them, their 149 was a much larger number by comparison.
Defense has been a massive point of concern for Kenny Atkinson and his crew, catching all the recent headlines in Cleveland. There is good reason for that. The Cavaliers are hovering just outside of the bottom-10 over the last 10 games. Their mark of 119.0 ranks them 20th in the NBA over that span. The only potential playoff units who rank lower in that time are the Heat and the Orlando Magic.
Both of those teams are 3-7, while the Cavaliers have managed to win in spite of their shortcomings, going the inverse at 7-3. Eventually, if that is the formula for success, their luck will run out. Atkinson has already spelled it out: they are not going very far in the playoffs with this caliber of defense.
Cavaliers' defensive problems go beyond a Jarrett Allen-sized solution
Previously, having the two twin towers down low has been a recipe for a strong unit on the back end. Perhaps it comes from all the time they have both missed this year, but Allen and Evan Mobley have not been fully capable of solving all the issues on defense.
A lot of that is because these problems just do not have a ton to do with the interior help the two bigs can offer. Allen and Mobley can end up catching some of the heat in the crosshairs, but it is the perimeter where the Cavaliers truly struggle.
Miscommunication, poor closeouts, overhelping, etc. etc. — Cleveland has seen it all.
At this stage, the Cavaliers only have eight games left to figure out how to fix these issues. That is not a lot of time. Furthermore, they will not get a ton of opportunity to make those adjustments against the type of competition they will see in the postseason.
The Cavaliers face the second-weakest strength of schedule left of any team in the NBA. Their remaining competition have a collective winning percentage of .415. The only teams they will play who look confidently bound for the playoffs are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Atlanta Hawks.
This could mean a chance to get the fundamentals right against weaker units. However, it could also mean not being adequately prepared for the real challenges that are ahead in the postseason.