Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 bad trends in their 6 defeats
By Ryan Piers
1. Defense
Fans will forget about ugly spots when the overall body of work gets a team to an NBA championship. But with a less imposing offense, the Cavaliers’ defense, which ranked in the bottom third in the NBA last year, is getting exposed.
Cleveland’s defensive rating is dead last in the league, below Sacremento, Dallas and Brooklyn. And those three teams treat defense like children do vegetables.
Despite owning one of the NBA’s most aggressive glass crashers in Tristan Thompson and human vacuum Kevin Love, Cleveland is relatively average at rebounding. And like last year, the Cavs are at the bottom in steals.
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From top to bottom, Cleveland’s defense is just a mess, and this is supposed to be the cushy part of the schedule. Imagine what happens when Golden State and Houston come to town.