Cleveland Cavaliers Settling into Team-First Identity and System
CLEVELAND — In the final minute of a 113-87 pummeling of the Washington Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena, the entire Cleveland Cavaliers bench stood together to show its support for the guys on the floor.
This moment, like the two-and-a-half hours before it, should make a statement to the rest of the league: The Cavs are finally uniting as a team.
After a 5-7 start to the season, Cleveland has won its last two games by a combined 58 points. A once-shaky defense has suddenly looked solid, and chemistry among the team appears to have reached its highest point this season.
"I just thought we played the way we should play. No reason to jump out of our britches," said head coach David Blatt after the game. "We should have a good feeling that we played the way that we should play. I know the turkey's going to taste a little bit sweeter tomorrow for the guys, and I'm happy about that."
Blatt had plenty of reason to smile, given that his Princeton-based offense appeared to flow better than it had all season. Guys were making the extra pass, being aggressive and taking what the defense gave them. More than that, he commented on the improved defensive effort as well, an area where Cleveland came in allowing a 20th-ranked 100.5 points per game.
"Defensive presence and taking care of the basketball, those two things. We've been defending, and we're not giving away opportunities and giving away points," Blatt said. "Five days ago we turned the ball over 19 times for 24 points.
"Today we turned over the ball 10 times for seven points. Do the math; it's a big difference and obviously we're defending. We've defended the last two games as well as we've defended the whole season."
Indeed they have.
The Cavaliers have allowed just 80.5 points over those two contests, 20.0 fewer than their season average coming into Wednesday.
Cleveland's defense on Wizards point guard John Wall was particularly impressive, especially since he went for 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting on Nov. 21. Washington won that game 91-78, prompting the Cavs to target Wall in Wednesday's rematch.
Kyrie Irving spoke of this challenge earlier in the week, telling Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group:
"Based on the lineup, whatever our team needs, if one person gets going whether it be the one or two, I'm going to guard them. It's just more or less a personal challenge. It takes a team effort to guard everybody and for me, I'm either on the one or the two. We just have to figure that out.
I told them that whenever I have a chance to guard the point guards, just leave me on him and we have our two guards guard the twos. I just have to do the job at stopping the head of the snake.
"
Irving and the Cavaliers used a team effort to slow down Wall, as he finished with just six points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field. As Wall faltered, so did the Wizards. Bradley Beal, making his first start of the season, only managed 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
For a Cavs squad that's allowed games of 110, 111 and 121 points this season, the past few outings have been a welcome sight.
LeBron James made mention of the board hanging in the locker room that keeps track of teams' opponent shooting percentages, a place where Cleveland has wallowed at the bottom all year.
"We have a board over there we keep track, and we were 30th. Now we're 25th, and after tonight we may even drop some more," James proudly pointed out.
"That means we're making a conscious effort to go out and defend. It's not just the one-on-one defense, it's the whole team. So many great guys in this league; you're not going to be able to contain guys one-on-one, but it's the second line of defense and the third line of defense that's going to help you out. And if one guy gets beat, you have the mindset that someone's going to be there to protect you.
The defensive rotations were crisp, as were the passes on offense.
The Cavaliers had just 10 turnovers and looked much more in sync than even a few days ago. They pushed the pace on offense, outscoring the Wizards 17-2 on fast-break points.
"We're very good when we don't turn the ball over," said James. "It gives us an opportunity to get up shots, and we got guys that can create their own shots and make shots and keeps everybody in a good rhythm.
James finished the game just shy of of a triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Kevin Love scored 21 points while Kyrie Irving contributed 18 points, five assists and just one turnover. He now has eight games with one turnover or less.
After going up by 13 after the first quarter, Cleveland never looked back. They played Washington to a draw over the next 24 minutes before enjoying a fourth-quarter run to push the lead to 26.
The sudden team fusion has led to a better, more balanced Cavaliers team on both sides of the ball.
After displaying some notable frustration both during and after games this season, James finally cracked a few smiles after the win.
"You know, we played basketball the right way. We shared the ball we defended; we sustained effort for as close to 48 minutes as possible. That's something that will come. I'm very happy and pleased with the way we played the last few games."
Cleveland's next three opponents, the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks, are a combined 19-28. If the Cavs truly want to capitalize on their recent success and build a winning streak, this appears to be a good time to do it.
For all the pressure, expectations and scrutiny surrounding the team's first dozen games, Cleveland has a chance to show its true colors. Now with back-to-back blowout wins, the Cavaliers are beginning to display that elusive, team-first identity that, up to this point, they had yet to discover.
Consider the rest of the league warned.
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010.
All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.
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