Cleveland’s defense fell apart once they switched back to man.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell scored 10 points in the final three minutes of what was a two-point game. That sort of run is typically enough to pull out a win in a close game, but it wasn’t on Wednesday because the Sacramento Kings scored on their last six possessions.
It doesn’t matter how many points you put up in the clutch if you can’t get stops.
Despite how torrid the Kings were down the stretch, they scored just 19 points in the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter. Cleveland’s zone was the main reason why. Going away from that proved to be a bad decision that cost them the game.
Evan Mobley’s scoring explosion in the third quarter kickstarted the offense after they fell behind by 11. He put up 12 points in the final three minutes of the quarter.
This was accompanied by Cleveland closing out the quarter in a 2-3 zone which resulted in two missed jumpers, two turnovers, and a contested made three just before the buzzer. This was a much-needed departure from the 40 points Cleveland had allowed in the first 10 minutes of the third.
Earlier this month Kenny Atkinson called the zone defense a “talent equalizer.” It could also be described as an effort equalizer. That’s what really helped in the second half.
The Kings were constantly getting the Cavs in rotation in the third quarter. The Cavs were switching most on and off-ball screens, but weren’t exerting the effort they needed to make that strategy effective. This led to straight drives to the hoop off of ball screens. Those drives caused the defense to rotate which led to dump-off passes inside and kickouts to shooters.
via nba.com
The zone kept the Cavs out of rotation. Instead of trying to cover up for a mismatch or a lazy switch, the defenders just had to focus on closing out hard-to-shooters on the perimeter. That’s a much easier sell and requires less effort on the second night of a back-to-back. You throw in having the length inside and on the wing with Mobley and De’Andre Hunter, and what you end up getting is a pretty solid defense
Atkinson went away from the zone at the start of the fourth which resulted in four straight baskets and 10 points on seven possessions. There was some good shot-making in this stretch, but also Cleveland’s defense had some bad doubles and poor defense in space.
That changed when Atkinson went back to the zone with just over seven minutes left. He primarily played that for the next five minutes. They only gave up two points in the next six half-court possessions they were in zone.
The defense wasn’t always great in that stretch. They benefited from a few missed threes (and a bad closeout from De’Andre Hunter), but they mostly did a good job of keeping the ball in front of them in a way they didn’t while in man.
The Cavs aren’t a good defensive-rebounding team. We got a reminder of that on Tuesday. Those issues are exaggerated in a zone when you aren’t near the player that you’re supposed to box out. That’s what came back to bite them in their last zone possession of the evening.
This presumably caused Atkinson to go away from the zone for the remainder of the game which led to Sacramento scoring on their final four possessions.
DeMar DeRozan hunted Mobley for a switch. Even though Mobley is one of the best defenders in the league, DeRozan knows that there isn’t too much help behind him. He used that knowledge to attack the basket off the dribble on the first possession.
Mobley gives him more space on the next trip down because he just got taken to the basket. That ended up being all the room DeRozan needed to bury his patented midrange jumper.
Neither of those scenarios would’ve been possible in the zone. You wouldn’t have been able to get Mobley away from the basket and out of a position of help so easily. In the second situation, the defender could’ve tried to take away DeRozan’s space for a midrange jumper knowing that if he did blow by him, Mobley would’ve been there on the backside.
The Kings then closed the game out by hunting mismatches and beating the slow rotations on their final two possessions.
The Cavs’ best defense is still man. It’s the most optimal way to use their size inside and skilled defenders on the wing. That said, it wasn’t the best defense on Wednesday. Atkinson would’ve been better served by sticking with the zone.
A lack of effort and focus have led to this three-game losing streak. That hasn’t been an issue for the previous five months and likely won’t be when they have something to play for again. There isn’t cause for concern long term.
That said, the defensive effort will need to be better if they’re going to turn around this road trip. Going with the zone more often during this funk could be a good way of doing that. We’ll see if Atkinson sprinkles it in more during their last three stops on their tour through the Western Conference.