Cleveland Cavaliers Offensive Defense Leads To Loss
Numerous defensive lapses halt the Cleveland Cavaliers’ comeback as they lose Game 4 to the Toronto Raptors, 105-99.
Well, here we go again.
The Cleveland Cavaliers fail to get back on defense and (insert player name here) penetrates to the hole. Where have we seen this before?
A 105-99 loss to the Toronto Raptors in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals is a game that could potentially haunt the Cavaliers if they lose this series.
They were able to take the lead in the middle of the fourth quarter after trailing by 18–and shooting only 39 percent for the half–but numerous defensive lapses against DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry were too much for the Cavaliers to overcome.
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It was a game in which the Raptors were able to get whatever they wanted.
Lowry was shooting three-point shots from Stephen Curry-range and making them. He went 4-for-7 from the perimeter. It didn’t help that Kyrie Irving was constantly getting confused on the pick-and-pops and screen rolls ran by Bismack Biyombo and DeMarre Carroll.
DeRozan was making every 10- to 12-foot shot with little resistance, even with LeBron James guarding him. He went 14-for-23 for the game.
However, the player that made the biggest impact for the Raptors was playoff sensation Biyombo. On the defensive end, he was relentless in the paint. He had three blocks and only 14 rebounds after grabbing a career-playoff-high 26 boards on Saturday.
Most fans would expect a performance like that from Tristan Thompson, but he has been disappointing in his return to Toronto thus far.
Biyombo has set the tone defensively for the whole series and the Cavaliers have yet to find an answer for it. They tried to play small ball in which they had James and/or Thompson/Kevin Love on the floor, but it was to no avail in the post.
Biyombo has gotten so confident that he’s doing the old Dikembe Mutombo “finger wag.” It probably feels like Groundhog Day for most Cavaliers fans seeing the last scoring option on the team make the biggest impact.
In 2008, it was veteran P.J. Brown on the Boston Celtics. In 2009, it was Mickael Pietrus of the Orlando Magic, and in 2010,it was Tony Allen on the defensive end for the Celtics.
All of those series ended in misery for the Cavaliers.
The biggest adjustment that I have seen from the Raptors is their group rebounding and prevention of the second chance basket to the Cavaliers.
Instead of letting Love or Thompson use their size to get the easy rebound, and the potential outlet pass, there are three guys under the basket waiting to get the board.
I noticed after anybody would miss, Lowry and DeRozan would sprint under the basket to be an extra body, and make it tough for the Cavaliers to get the long rebound.
The Raptors also played the passing lanes well and capitalized off turnovers from the Cavaliers.
They were using the same strategy Cleveland has used all playoffs–which was close out on the perimeter and in the post, and constant ball movement for the best shot.
Even worse, the Cavaliers shot 41 three-point attempts, and only made 13 of them. That’s 31 percent! This is a team that isn’t suppose to rely on that shot, but those attempts say otherwise.
Defensively, the Cavaliers were atrocious. They had numerous chances to take control of the game, but they failed to get consecutive defensive stops.
James made an impossible pass to Richard Jefferson in the fourth quarter to take the one-point lead, but the Raptors went right back down and scored.
But what sealed the game was when Lowry penetrated through a wide open lane for the layup and Cavaliers players stood around looking perturbed.
It was one of their worst defensive performances that I’ve seen so far in the playoffs.
While everybody struggled for the Cavaliers, Love was the coldest. In the first quarter, he missed four wide open three-point shots. He then tried to play within the post and got manhandled everytime by Biyombo and Patrick Patterson.
But the play that summed up the night for Love is when he went for dunk over Biyombo and got blocked. He didn’t play a minute in the fourth quarter. In the last two games, Love has scored a combined 13 points and has only grabbed 10 rebounds.
The Cavaliers played bad in every facet of the game on both ends of the court. Did they possibly underestimate the second best team in the Eastern Conference during the season? Maybe.
When a team sweeps each of its first two series, they could tend to feel invincible at times. I think this loss is a reality check for them.
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They will have a chance for redemption in a must-win game on Wednesday back at Quicken Loans Arena. Will coach Tyronn Lue make the necessary adjustments and potentially shake up the lineup and rotation? Will Jonas Valanciunas finally play? We will all find out in a day.