Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from Game 6 vs. Pacers

2. The Cavaliers defense continues to perform terribly

Cleveland has some serious adjustments to make on defense, especially if it hopes to survive past Game 7 of this series. They allowed the most points all series in a closeout game — rarely heard of on a LeBron James-led team.

To make matters worse, seven Indiana Pacers players scored in double-figures before the final buzzer rang. The Pacers led by as many as 36 points as they made shot after shot, causing head coach Tyronn Lue to call three of his timeouts in the third quarter. They didn’t help much.

In the plus/minus department, Rodney Hood was a -27, LeBron James was a -24, Jeff Green was a -21 and Jordan Clarkson was a -19. The highest plus/minus score on the roster was Cedi Osman, who finished with a -4. As a team, their offensive rating was 92.5 and their defensive rating was 131.3 with a net rating of -38.8.

The Cleveland Cavaliers can’t play like they did on Friday night or they could be making an early exit on Sunday. LeBron James will need some help, that’s for sure, as he looks completely exhausted.