The Cleveland Cavaliers Defense Is Mediocre At Best
June 14, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) moves the ball against the defense of Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) in the second half in game five of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been incredible successful this season, but they will need to step up their mediocre defense come playoff time.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the best teams in the NBA, and it isn’t even close. They are on tier of their own with Golden State, Houston, and San Antonio. Without an improvement in their defense, it will be difficult to contain these offensives come playoff time.
The Cavaliers are in the bottom half of the league in both steals and blocks which could be a problem.
The blocks are much more understandable as they play basically the entire game without a true rim protector. This could be an area that the Cavaliers would target if they decide to make another trade. The Cavs block less than 4 shots per game, 3.9 to be exact, and that is 27th best in the NBA.
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It seems odd that the Cavs are in the bottom half in steals, but that just shows that they usually don’t play with the effort that they should. Steals are usually forced by either excellent individual defensive play or great team effort and energy leading to turnovers. The Cleveland Cavaliers often times play without the necessary energy to force turnovers, and this is an issue.
While steals and blocks are key defensive stats, the Cavs issues go far deeper than that, so let’s take a quick look at their other defensive struggles.
Jan 21, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2) drives to the basket against Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) during the second half at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive Rating
If it is not already obvious that the Cavaliers lack defensively, it is about to be.
The Cavaliers 105.5 defense rating is 15th in the NBA. That sounds alright, doesn’t it? Oh, just for your information, defense rating measures the team’s estimated points given up per 100 possessions.
In the first half of games, they boost that to 102.3 which is top 5 in the NBA, but in the second half, that numbers dips to 108.9. This dip causes the Cavaliers to have an overall negative net rating in the second half of their games.
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AND, if you take just the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers are the WORST team in the NBA in defense rating as that numbers balloons to 113.7. Could this be a potential concern for the Cavaliers? While the Cavaliers have crushed some teams and are allowed to slack in the second half, the majority of their games are within 15 points, so that should be irrelevant.
The Cavaliers have played and lost their last two games against San Antonio and Golden State. They gave up 107 points at the end of regulation against the Spurs, and they gave us 126 to the Warriors in their last meeting.
Is there really a need to worry though? I truly don’t think so. The Cavaliers will regain injured sharpshooter and key defender J.R. Smith in a couple months, and that will help bolster their perimeter defense.
While the rating is just an indicator of their defensive play, these next areas are where the Cavs really need to get it together.
Jan 13, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ty Lawson (10) dribbles past Cleveland Cavaliers guard DeAndre Liggins (14) during the second half at Golden 1 Center. The Cavaliers defeated the Kings 120-108. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Opponents vs the Cavaliers
I’m concerned with the Cavaliers defensive rating, but the points that they easily give up to opponents scares me even more. The Cavs give up 13.3 second chance points per game. While these can not be eliminated completely, it is strange to see this team in the bottom half of this.
They are also in the bottom half of opponent’s points off turnovers, opponent’s points in the paint, and opponent’s fast break points. For the reigning-champions, this is just unacceptable. Most of these can easily be controlled.
The effort that is giving on a nightly basis should be frightening. This team struggles to play on both ends of the floor without Kyrie and LeBron. Their incompetence could become a problem as the playoff time nears and/or the Raptors start to threaten their Eastern Conference top spot.
I’m still not overly concerned for the Cavaliers because they usually cruise into the top seed and then turn it on in the playoffs. But, it would be nice to see these numbers improve.
Do you think the Cavaliers should be concerned with their defensive numbers and effort?
