Cleveland’s defense ended their losing streak.
The Cleveland Cavaliers offense broke free in the third quarter after registering just 51 in the first half against the lowly Utah Jazz. Their 37 third-quarter points allowed them to push their modest six-point lead into a 24-point advantage and a runaway victory. The 15-0 run to start the frame allowed that to happen.
It’s easy to think of the offense during these game-breaking Cavalanches as being the most important factor, but it’s the defensive end of the floor that matters most. These runs don’t happen without defensive stops.
Cleveland’s defense ranked 27th in the league last week during their four losses with a 124.6 defensive rating. While it’s easy to focus on the low three-point percentage or Donovan Mitchell’s struggles, the offense was still respectable during that stretch. It was their defense that consistently let them down as they gave up 35 points or more in a quarter six times during the losing streak.
You simply can’t go on runs to put a game out of reach if your defense is constantly letting you down.
The defensive end of the floor is what turned around during the third quarter. The Jazz are an awful offensive team (24th in offensive rating) and were missing their best player, Lauri Markkanen. But keeping an opponent scoreless for five and a half minutes is still impressive.
The Jazz went 0-8 from the field with four turnovers in that stretch that allowed the Cavs to put it away. Let’s take a look at how they did it.
The Cavaliers were fortunate to not give up baskets on Utah’s first possession of the half. They gave up two corner three-point shots to Cody Williams after they weren’t able to corral the rebound after the first attempt.
This doesn’t look like great defense on the surface. In both instances, the Cavs overhelped inside to cut off drives to the hoop.
That’s not necessarily a good thing. But, Williams is one of the worst corner three-point shooters for his position (26%, fourth percentile). Allowing him to have open looks in the corner wasn’t a bad option.
The Cavs then forced turnovers on the ensuing two possessions. First with a Kyle Filipowski travel. Then with an errant pass from Collin Sexton.
Cleveland’s defense did a good job of meeting Sexton in the paint. By the time he tried to pass it, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley took the window away.
The transition defense was non-existent during the losing streak, especially off of live ball turnovers like what happened here.
Isaiah Collier probably should’ve attempted the initial layup, but Darius Garland, Max Strus, and Mobley’s hustle back on defense forced a dump-off pass to Sexton. Strus kept Sexton from going up right away which allowed Mobley to come from behind with the block.
Extra-effort plays like this are what create game-defining runs.
Allen was Cleveland’s best offensive player in the third quarter. He picked up 11 points while aggressively finishing inside. His defense might’ve been more important. Below is a good example of that.
The Jazz got the switch they wanted with Allen on Sexton. Allen does a great job of staying at the level of the screen and keeping his hips facing Sexton. This allows him to put a great contest on the layup attempt.
The Cavs were comfortable giving up open threes to Utah’s bigs. They were willing to let Walker Kessler (15.6% three-point shooter) attempt as many as he wanted but were fortunate Fillipowski (39.5% three-point shooter) missed a clean look.
Even so, they’re okay with that look at this point of the run. Their goal was to keep Utah from getting anything easy.
You officially have a team on their back foot when you cut off paths to the paint and they aren’t hitting the threes you’re willing to concede. This is where things can get out of hand, and it did for the Jazz.
Filipowski tried to attack a Mobley closeout, but couldn’t get anywhere. This resulted in a pass to nowhere. Kessler then does the same thing the following possession late in the shot clock but is blocked by Allen.
Each stop seemed to give the defense more energy. You see that in the play below.
Sexton tried to take Garland off the dribble, but Mobley was there to meet him at the rim. This was only possible because Allen made the extra rotation down from the top of the arc to cut off the pass to the corner.
Those are the extra-effort plays that make the difference between a good and great defense.
The offense was flustered at this point. Sexton tried to drive again but was cut off on the following possession. Once again, Mobley and Struss did a good job of taking away the passing window so this ended up being a pass to nowhere.
The Jazz were only able to break out of this cycle thanks to a late shot clock prayer that was answered.
The Cavs kept piling it on from there. In the end, it was a 30-9 run that put the Jazz away.
Cleveland has been winning with their offense this season. Naturally, going into a shooting slump has made that the main talking point when discussing this losing streak. While that’s understandable, the real cause for concern is on the defensive end. Sunday showed that.
Even on a night when they shot their lowest three-point percentage of the season (22.9%), the Cavs were still able to get a 29-point victory.
The Jazz are bad, but the traits that the Cavs displayed during this run will transfer elsewhere. The attention to detail and extra effort were there in a way it hasn’t been recently. That will need to continue if they want to end this road trip strong on Tuesday.