Loss to Hawks exposes Cavs lackluster defense: ‘We’re getting beat’

The Cavs are going through defensive growing pains as they’re adjusting to a new defensive system.

Losses have a way of shining a light on issues that were always there. The Cleveland Cavaliers offense has masked some of the defensive problems that have been hiding under the surface. Those were fully seen as they surrendered 135 points to the Atlanta Hawks which included 37 in the fourth quarter.

“That was a stinker,” Kenny Atkinson said after the game. “We kind of deserved what we got tonight.”

This was certainly a stinker, but it was hardly an isolated incident.

The Hawks connected on 20 of their 42 attempts from beyond the arc (47.6%). This was the sixth time their opponent has shot over 45% from three and it was the fourth time their opponent has made 20 or more threes against the Cavs in a game. This has all added up to the second-worst opponent three-point percentage in the league (38.4%).

Not being able to defend the three-point line is why the Cavs currently have the 11th-ranked defense with a 111.9 defensive rating. That ranking is trending in the wrong direction as they’ve been 20th overall in defense since the beginning of November.

“We’re getting beat,” Darius Garland said. “The one-on-one defense, and just rotating. ... I think our defense is pretty good, we just got to rotate a little bit more, play a little bit harder.”

Getting beat one-on-one has been a consistent theme. The Cavs are too willing to collapse the paint to protect the rim which leaves them unable to rotate back out to shooters. It was an issue against the Boston Celtics and it still remains one.

“We gotta play harder,” Garland said. “Gotta pressure the ball a little bit more. Gotta get into our defender, even on the switches. We gotta bump our man up a little bit so the person can get under the switch, under the man that’s rolling.”

The Cavs have been much more willing to switch this season than they have in years past. Some of the mismatches they find themselves in have led to a desire to collapse the paint more than they should. This is on top of mixing in more zone defense.

“We’re trying different schemes that we haven’t done in the past,” Donovan Mitchell said. “We want to be playoff-ready. You don’t want to be just a one-scheme team.”

The increased switching and playing more guard-heavy lineups have impacted where the defenders are on the court which has taken time to get used to.

“Sometimes the low man is a smaller guard,” Mitchell said. “[We have to] get used to being there earlier. [Jarrett Allen], you got to close out to the wing. [This is] stuff we haven’t done since I’ve been here the past two years so [we’re] getting accustomed to it.”

The only way to truly get accustomed to anything new is by getting live reps.

“We’re using this as, I don’t want to describe it as practice because I don’t want to disrespect any other team, but there’s things out here to work on,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes, if you can’t practice, you got to work on it, live in the game.”

Coming into this season it seemed as if the learning curb was going to be on the offensive side of the ball. That hasn’t been the case as they have the highest-rated offense in the league. Even on a night they couldn’t get anything to drop from three, they still registered an impressive 119.2 offensive rating (70th percentile). That just reinforces how incredibly high their baseline is on that end.

That same high baseline hasn’t shown through yet defensively. That doesn’t mean it won’t eventually. They have the tools to be a great defensive team. But at the moment, they’re a work in progress. Or, as much of a work in progress as a team that’s won 17 of their first 19 games can be.

“I’m not worried,” Mitchell said. “We’re going to continue to be who we are. We know what our main defensive principles are, but we’re just trying to find ways to improve. So when it comes April, May, June, [we’ll be ready].”

“We gotta play our brand of basketball, which starts with the defensive end, which leads to the offensive end,” Garland said. “So, once we get back to that we’ll be fine . . . we’re still fine though. 17-2, we’ll take that. We’re in great shape.”