CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t play their best, but did enough down the stretch to defeat the short-handed Denver Nuggets 112-108.
The Cavs won on the defensive end of the floor. They came into the fourth quarter down nine points, only scored 24 in the fourth, and were still able to erase the deficit. Their defense was the deciding factor.
“Den 11 points fourth quarter” was written on the team’s floor-to-ceiling whiteboard in the locker room when media were allowed in afterwards. That was the most
important stat from the game and the one that the team presumably celebrated afterward.
The Cavaliers have used Dean Wade to guard the other team’s best perimeter scorer in recent games. They didn’t have that luxury on Friday as Wade missed this one with a knee injury, and it showed. Jamal Murray — Denver’s only opening night starter available for this game — torched them for 28 points in the first half.
Cleveland adjusted. They started trapping him whenever he caught the ball.
“We said, if we’re going to lose this, let the other guys beat us,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said afterward. “Even when they brought the small lineup in, we still went, hit, we double teamed him, tried to get the ball out of his hands.”
And when they didn’t get it out of his hands, they forced difficult shots. Murray had just six points on 12 attempts in the second half.
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Lonzo Ball’s defensive impact helped in this area. The Cavs played their best defense with Ball on the floor as they registered an 83.3 defensive rating in the 15 minutes he played. His ability to be disruptive in the passing lanes, be a step ahead of rotations, and put good contests on shots went a long way to that. It was one of his best games as a Cavalier, even if his stat line doesn’t necessarily show it.
“For him to continue to be who he’s been, and not pout, not be in bad spirits, that’s the sign of a pro,” Donovan Mitchell said of Ball. “He comes in, does his work. Then coming out here and impacting the game in ways that he knows we need him to.”
Even though he’s played poorly this season, performances like this show how helpful the best version of Ball can be. His versatility as a ball handler, playmaker, and defender is something this team desperately needs at his size. And while he may not be the best choice every night, the nights that he’s on, he can really swing a game.
The Cavaliers closed with their starting front court of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen. That has been rarer than you’d expect this season. Mobley and Allen have only played together in the fourth quarter in 13 of the 19 games both have been available in. And when they do play in the fourth, it’s for an average of just three minutes.
Lessening the time both have shared the court has been an ongoing trend. The duo has played just 13.4 minutes together going into Friday’s contest. Last season, they played 14.6 minutes together per game, and the year before it was 17.1 minutes.
This is happening despite the Cavs having incredible success with Mobley and Allen sharing the floor. The Cavs went into this game outscoring opponents by 11.1 points per 100 possessions (91st percentile) when they play together. Those lineups have been phenomenal on both sides of the ball and work no matter which guard combination they’re paired with.
When asked about why he hasn’t gone to this lineup as often, Atkinson said it depends on the situation. He pointed to being behind in games — which lends itself to going smaller more — and Allen working his way back from injuries as reasons why he hasn’t gone to it often recently. While those are valid reasons, it’s also fair to point out that the big frontcourt has gotten great results this season, and this team doesn’t necessarily have many ideal small-ball lineups when Wade isn’t available.
The larger frontcourt worked late against Denver.
Atkinson subbed Allen back in to join Mobley with three minutes left in the fourth with the team trailing by one. The Cavs then forced a jump ball off an errant shot, grabbed an offensive rebound that led to a go-ahead three from Darius Garland, and then secured another offensive rebound two possessions later that led to a game-sealing dunk from Mitchell.
Atkinson mentioned afterward that Denver’s lack of shooters allowed for the bigger lineup to work in this instance.
“The issue comes [against four-out teams], most teams finish with four shooters on the floor,” Atkinson said. “This team did not today. They gave you two guys that you could [play off of], so it makes it a little bit easier.
“Sometimes it’s hard to play those two bigs together because either Evan or J.A. has got to play a small, and sometimes that’s not perfect. It’s not a great matchup. … Then it goes to the offensive end, sometimes you need more spacing and more shooting.”
The Cavs didn’t play great, but they were still able to pick up a win. They’re a work in progress, but one that is heading in the right direction, even if Mitchell still sees plenty of things that need to be addressed.
“I think our collectiveness on both ends of the floor,” Mitchell said when asked about what he wants to see the team improve. “I think of communication and understanding. I’m not saying we’re doing a poor job of it, I just think that can be even better. We can be better, right?”
Mitchell pointed to a defensive mix-up that he and Allen had, which led to a wide-open three from Murray, right out of the half, as an example of plays “that can’t happen.”
“Whether it’s getting back and communicating defensive things, defensive rebounds, we got to get on the boards, there’s so many things we can do to be even better,” Mitchell said. “And I don’t mean to say we’re not doing a solid job, but we can always be better.”
With the win, Cleveland has now won three in a row and five of their last seven. That’s a solid rebound from where they were before this recent stretch, even if they’re far from a finished product.
“We still got a ways to go,” Mitchell said. “We’re playing well. And maybe I’m being overly [critical], like, a little too much. We’ve done it for 10, 11 days. … We’ve shown that there’s a different vibe. It’s different. Now, instead of seven games, it’s 10. Ten is 12. We’re at a time where we’re not just talking about it, we got to just do it.”
