CLEVELAND — Head coach Kenny Atkinson went to his postgame press conference to deliver one message after the Cleveland Cavaliers barely scraped by the Orlando Magic 136-131.
“I just told the team in the locker room, if we’re going to play defense like this, we’re going to have a short playoff stint,” Atkinson said. “We have a mentality that we’re just going to outscore people, and we all know, playoff time, it’s not going to be that easy offensively. … If we’re giving up 134 points, 120, we’re not going anywhere.”
That message was heard by his team, to the point that Donovan Mitchell mixed up whether or not they actually won the game.
“That’s why this loss, or this win, excuse me, feels different.”
Mitchell’s Freudian slip was understandable. You shouldn’t be able to give up 131 points to the Magic — the 18th ranked ofense — and come away with a victory.
The defense was awful. Let’s quickly run through some numbers that show this.
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That offensive rating was the third-highest for Orlando this season.
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This led to the Magic scoring 23 second-chance points.
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The Magic’s free-throw rate was in the 98th percentile as they went 35-38 (92.1%) at the line.
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Six Magic players finished with double-digit scoring, including Paolo Banchero, who put up 36 points on 10-19 shooting.
“It starts on the ball,” Max Strus said. “It starts with our pressure. It starts with our communication, physicality. We just let them be the aggressors tonight.”
The point of attack defense just wasn’t there. The Magic were able to get penetration into the paint on seemingly every drive, which broke Cleveland’s entire defense. This allowed for easy looks at the basket, open drive-and-kick threes, and trips to the free-throw line with the defense being out of position.
It was bad.
“Our leaders got to take ownership…ownership of defending better,” Atkinson said. “It really starts there.”
The Cavs believe that they can fix this issue, while acknowledging that these changes need to happen before the playoffs.
“A lot of it has to do with the mentality and want to,” Strus said. “That’s really defense as a whole. It’s just everybody as a whole buying into it. I think we have the right guys in the room to figure that out.”
“We’ll get there,” Mitchell said confidentially.
Talk is cheap at this point.
Jarrett Allen’s absence shouldn’t be overlooked, but not even he can clean up all the leaks that are currently in the defense. It’s up to the players who are still in the lineup to do a better job of competing on that end. Until they show that they can for a full 48 minutes, it’s difficult to believe that this will improve, at least not before the end of the regular season.
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Given how bad the defense was, the Cavs needed an elite offensive performance, and they got it.
Cleveland finished in the 99th percentile for offensive rating in a game this season, and they did so because of their balanced three-level scoring and ability to get to the line.
The Cavs finished in the 87th percentile for accuracy at the rim (80.8%), 97th percentile for midrange shooting (64%), and 69th percentile for three-point percentage (40%). That’s, on top of getting to the free-throw line for 29 attempts, and knocking down 89.7% of those shots.
This was an absolute offensive clinic.
Mitchell — looking like himself again — played a large role in that happening. He compiled 42 points on an efficient 14-22 shooting while going 3-7 from beyond the arc.
This was a much-needed showing from Mitchell, whose left eye is still bloodshot after being poked last week before their game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Mitchell said that the eye looks worse than it is and that he can see good enough out of it now. The only annoying part is the appearance, which is something his mother is constantly reminding him of by sending him pictures of how it looks on TV.
James Harden had a strong offensive showing as well. His ability to seemingly generate a quality look each possession was once again on display in combination with his own shot-creation skills. This led to him scoring 26 points on 8-16 shooting with seven assists.
Harden had another ridiculous assist. This time, it was a jumping, behind-the-back bounce pass from the restricted area to the three-point arc that had far more zip on it than seemed humanly possible.
“I better make it,” Strus said when asked about what he was thinking when he saw that pass. “That was unbelievable. He put it right in the pocket too.”
Sam Merrill is making the most of his opportunity in the starting lineup with Allen still sidelined. He had another impressive performance as he scored 19 points with most of his damage coming inside. Merrill went 4-5 on shots in the paint and got to the line for six free-throw attempts.
“He drives like his Giannis,” Mitchell joked. “I don’t know where this came from.”
Being more comfortable finishing inside has been a focus for Merrill going back to the offseason. He spoke at media day about wanting to “diversify” his game. He’s done that and made himself an indispensable part of the team as a result.
There’s a conversation to be had about whether Merrill should stay in the starting lineup when the team is fully healthy based on how well he’s fit offensively. The Cavs are in the 99th percentile for offensive rating (127.8) when Harden, Mitchell, and Merrill share the floor. That’s good enough to outscore teams by 9.9 points per 100 possessions (90th percentile).
More importantly, Merrill has made significant strides to become a more complete basketball player. When he first joined the Cavs, defense was an issue. He spent multiple years working on that until he proved that he can more than hold his own on that end. Now we see the effort he’s put in to be a more capable three-level scorer really paying off.
That work ethic has allowed him to go from a speciality role player to someone who fits perfectly in every context.
“The growth he’s had in his game and the confidence level he’s raised has been special to watch,” Strus said. “Sam’s a hell of a basketball player and people don’t give him a lot of credit. He can do a ot more than shooting. I’m so glad he’s putting that on display for everyone.”
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