Cleveland Cavaliers: Analyzing their position in league rankings

Cleveland Cavaliers Rankings: 2nd in Defensive Rating

Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said before the season that he was heavily influenced by the ‘Grit and Grind’ Era that made the Memphis Grizzlies such a hardnosed team in the past. This mentality has clearly been integrated into the Cavs as they are putting teams through hell on the defensive end.

Only the Los Angeles Lakers have posted a better Defensive Rating than Cleveland through the first quarter of the season. This is incredibly impressive for a team who registered the worst DEF RTNG in NBA history only two years ago – and even more noteworthy when you consider all of the injuries they have endured this season.

Their success on defense comes from their dedication and willingness to trust each other. The guards on this team now have a higher margin for error with rim protectors ready to erase any mistakes they make.

It also helps that they have one of the best defensive rookies the league has seen in quite some time. Okoro is phenomenal at playing to his strengths and he routinely stifled the likes of James Harden and Kyrie Irving through their two meetings. It’s rare for anyone to attempt a shot over Okoro and this is a credit to how relentless he is at sticking to his man.

Still, nobody has impacted this Cavaliers team more than Larry Nance Jr. Back at the start of the 2019-20 NBA season, Nance made the bold claim that he would be one of the league leaders in steals and many scoffed at the idea. Now, Nance stands alone as the NBA’s biggest thief, recording 2.4 steals per game so far this season.

Steals are a common theme for Cleveland. They are forcing turnovers at a historic rate and scoring the second-most points off turnovers in the NBA. This is a credit to players like Nance and Drummond but also the great coaching that has seen the team flawlessly switch between zone and man defense throughout the course of games to keep opponents off guard.