Poor Defense Plagues Cavs In Loss To Knicks
Cleveland's road struggles continued in New York as they dropped yet another one-possession game to Knicks with a final score of 103-105.
There's a lot to look at regarding where the Cavs went wrong in this game but it all stems from their defense. Even though Cleveland has been one of the better defensive teams in the league this season, this was not the case on Tuesday night.
The Cavs allowed the Knicks to dictate the pace of the game and the energy early which meant Cleveland was stuck playing catch-up all night. The Knicks' biggest lead was only 13 points. However, it felt like 30 points because whenever Cleveland made a push New York would come right back with an answer.
They also allowed Julius Randle to have his way wherever he was on the court. Whether it was getting to the post and scoring their or knocking down three-pointers from deep. Randle finished with 36 points while he shot an incredible 52 percent from the field.
The Knicks as a team could not miss from three either. They ended the game shooting just over 50 percent from behind the arc. This won't show up in the stat sheet, but most of these three were wide-open without a defender in sight.
Cleveland's three-point defense is becoming a massive problem that needs to be fixed as quickly as possible. There's no way to survive in the NBA if a team is letting the opposition hit every other shot they take.
The Cavs also failed to convert on another last-second shot. I still stand by what I said after the Grizzlies game. There is no way this team is "learning anything" if the final play of the game is isolation for either Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland.
Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley are one of the reasons the offense is successful so they need to be implemented on those final plays.
On top of all of the other frustrations, Mitchell was in some serious pain after he missed the final shot of the game and slowly walked to the locker and was clearly in some pain. Now we just have to wait and see the severity of whatever the injury is.
Cleveland has a chance to get back in the win column on Thursday night when they take on the Houston Rockets.
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