A familiar issue doomed the Cavaliers against the Magic — and it wasn’t the refs

Perhaps the result against the Orlando Magic could have been different on Wednesday night if one key call went in the Cleveland Cavaliers' direction. James Harden was adamant the referees got it wrong too. If only that was the biggest problem for the Cavaliers in their disappointing 128-122 loss to the Magic.

At the end of the day, it is hard to win basketball games when giving up as many points as the Cavaliers did. You know it, I know it, the coaches know it, and the players clearly did too. Harden admitted as much to the media following the conclusion of the road loss in Orlando.

"Defensively is where we need to be better at," Harden said. "Offensively, we can score with the best of them. It's come down to getting stops ... and relying on our defense to win us games."

To the point of the star point guard, the Cavaliers have proven more than capable of getting buckets since his arrival in Cleveland. The defensive side of the basketball court? That is still a very clear work in progress that needs to be polished up before any championship run.

Cavaliers have been searching for balance on both ends all year

A lot of the focus during the early struggles of this campaign for the Cavaliers had to do with how uninspired the offense looked. That was a part of it. Cleveland was settling for too many mediocre looks without hunting for the best shot consistently.

Their offensive approach relied heavily on looking at Donovan Mitchell and begging for him to score 30 points. Those days have been firmly put to rest with Harden, and even Dennis Schroder, in the mix. The added pressure from their dribble penetration has the Cavaliers humming.

The defense is still just being dragged along in the process.

On the whole of the season, the Cavaliers are 13th in the NBA when it comes to defensive rating. They have posted a mark of 113.4. Since the All-Star break, specifically, they have slipped to 16th, despite having a largely similar statistic of 113.5 in the category.

Either way, the message should be about that not being good enough.

The Cavaliers have the defensive personnel to be a great team on that end. They were a top-10 unit last season and one could easily argue this year's group is better. Last year's team did not have a defensive playmaker like Keon Ellis by contrast.

There have been glimpses of that elite team defense too. Their recent statement win over the Detroit Pistons serves as a great example. Cade Cunningham was fighting for his life in trying to create offense for himself against the Cavaliers.

Balanced basketball teams win NBA championships. The Cavaliers have the firepower. No one will dream of questioning that aspect of this unit. Every single matchup cannot be a track meet. Their last 16 games should offer an opportunity for this group to grow into what they need to be on that end.