Cavs want to ‘get back to being a top-five defense’

CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers climbed their way back to relevance five years ago through their work on the defensive end. They ascended 20 spots in defensive rating from 2021 to 2022 thanks to the additions of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. That upward trajectory continued the next season as they finished 2023 with the best defense in the league.

Then, the slow decline started.

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The Cavs’ defense dropped from first to sixth, and then to eighth. Last season was their biggest decline, with Cleveland finishing the year 15th in defensive rating.

They intend to turn this trend around.

“We definitely want to get back to being a top-five defense,” Sam Merrill said. “It had been that way, and then last year that wasn’t the case. That’s been most of our discussion throughout this camp.”

Talking about wanting to improve the defense is a pretty common refrain in the preseason. Actually doing it is much more difficult.

“I don’t like saying much,” Donovan Mitchell said when asked about the defense. “I want to go out there and just do it.”

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The NBA game has changed drastically over the last 15 years; the need to protect the rim hasn’t. Attempts at the basket are still the most efficient place to score from and where every elite offense tries to get. Cleveland has the personnel to defend the rim well with Mobley and Allen, but the point of attack needs to be better to utilize that advantage.

“It’s understanding the strengths we have with Evan and J.A., but not putting too much on their plates,” Merrill said. “I think there were times last year where we put too much on their plates by getting beat off the dribble, getting into rotations and whatnot. If we can do a better job of keeping the ball out of the paint and force the right shots, that should help us ascend.”

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To Merrill’s point, Cleveland’s defense has been predicated on funneling their opponents inside, making them finish at the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/cavs-want-back-being-top-110000852.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-09 11:00:00

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