Hanging with the champs and a Sixth Man of the Year candidate: Week 5 Cavs takeaways

The Cleveland Cavaliers are mortal, as they finally suffered their first loss to the Boston Celtics last Tuesday and now sit at 17-1 on the season. 

However, Cleveland is still in the midst of their best start in franchise history, so there is plenty to celebrate. What were the big themes of this past week? Here are three takeaways from week five of Cavs basketball.

1. The Cavs have what it takes to beat the Celtics

At times it felt that the Cavs were overmatched against the Celtics. Boston took a 17 point halftime lead and scored 39 points in a huge second quarter. 

However, Cleveland did not quit in the second half, despite going down 21 in the third quarter. Heading into the fourth, it was a five point game. The Cavs ended up losing by three. 

This was despite the fact that they were missing Dean Wade, Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, and Max Strus in their rotation. In order to beat Boston, you need competent wing play and the Cavs were missing that. In addition to that, Darius Garland shot three-for-21 from the field. 

Despite having a lot working against them, Cleveland hung in there with their grit and toughness. Fully healthy, they have what it takes to give Boston a tough playoff series.

2. Ty Jerome is a Sixth Man of the Year candidate

Ty Jerome continued his hot start to the season with three 20 point games last week for the Cavs. This included a 29 point explosion against the Pelicans, a game in which Jerome nailed seven threes in the first half.

On the season, Jerome is averaging about 13 points per game and shooting a blistering 60 percent from the field and 55 percent from three-point range. On catch and shoot threes, he is shooting 48 percent. 

He also leads the league in true shooting percentage at around 74 percent. The Cavs have a +16.0 net rating when he is on the floor. He is a huge reason why Cleveland is seventh in the league in bench scoring and has firmly entrenched himself in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation.

3. Slight defensive fall off

In their last five games, the Cavs are giving up 113.6 points per game. This includes 126 points given up to Chicago and 120 to the Celtics. In their last five games, Cleveland is 14th in the NBA in defensive rating, just around league average. 

Even if the sample size is extended to ten games, the Cavs are 15th in defensive rating. To start the season, they were inside the top ten. 

The Cavs are still ninth in the NBA in defensive rating, but have slipped to league average recently. It has not yet hurt them, but this team’s identity is still the defensive end of the floor and even with their high flying offense, they should not lose sight of that.