"Defense wins championships." If this saying is true, the Cleveland Cavaliers better hope that there is another way to win championships after how poor their defense has been this season. Currently, the Cavs are ranked 29th in the NBA in defense. The only team worse: the Sacramento Kings. Currently, the Kings are tied for the worst record in the league, while the Cavs are trying to catch the Celtics for 1st in the East.
Is this cause for concern?
Should the Cavs be concerned? Sure. Is it the end of the world? Not necessarily.
In the past three seasons, the Cavs' defense has finished 20th, 10th and 22nd respectively.
At the end of each of those seasons, they found themselves stacked up against the offensive juggernaut, the Golden State Warriors. When the Cavaliers' defense improved to 10th during the 2015-2016 season, they were able to take down the 73-9 Warriors.
What does this mean for this season?
Currently, the Cavs rank 5th in points per game. Offense is not the problem, but can it carry them? This is the major question. If the last ten games are any indicator, it can't. The Cavs are 3-7 in their last ten games and have been the worst defensive team while only ranking 20th in offense. This is obviously not a recipe for success.
The Cavaliers aren't going to stay in this slump, but is this team good enough to get back to the Finals?
This Cavs team is scoring more than the Cavs teams that went to the Finals in 2015 and 2016. This is even without Kyrie and his replacement, Isaiah Thomas, who has been sidelined by a hip injury for most of the start of the season. With Thomas finding his rhythm and gelling with the team, their offense still seems like it could improve.
This Cavs team can still make another run to the Finals. Their defense has to improve, but maybe not as much as people think. If their offense can remain in the top 5 in the league, they can have a shot against anyone in a 7-game series.
Just how much does their defense need to improve though?
To improve to the same defensive rating last year, they only need to improve their defense by 1.9 points per 100 possessions.
While to improve to the defensive ranking of 22nd they held last year, they would have to improve their defense by 3.0 points per 100 possessions.
This is not unreasonable. The tough part for Ty Lue is to figure out what is the cause of such poor defense. For a team with the talent, Cleveland has to be second worst in defense is unacceptable. This is not the first time that we have seen a Cleveland Cavaliers team go into a mid-season slump, however. They will come out of it, and Coach Lue (or should I say Coach Lebron) will figure it out come playoff time.
More than likely Lebron and the Cavs will make another deep run in the playoffs, but this year the main question is, "Can the Cavaliers win with No Defense?"
