The Cleveland Cavaliers have a series lead over the Toronto Raptors thanks to their strong defense.
As the first round of the playoffs turns to the away team’s floor, the Cleveland Cavaliers hold a 2-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors.
Yes, through Games 1 and 2, Cleveland’s offense has been solid with Donovan Mitchell continuing to score at an elite level, James Harden getting everyone involved with his playmaking, and some of the Cavaliers’ role players stepping up.
However, one of the big reasons that the Cavaliers have convincingly won the first two games of the series is their defense. Cleveland has given the Raptors plenty of issues scoring.
The ironic part of this is that, during the regular season, Cleveland’s defense was not a strength. In some cases, it was even a liability for the Wine and Gold.
After 82 games, the Cavaliers finished with a 114.1 defensive rating, which finished right in the middle of the league at No. 15.
So far in the postseason, Cleveland’s defensive rating has been 111.2. The Cavaliers have held the Raptors to an average of 109 points per game while shooting 51.3 percent from the floor and 37.7 percent from behind the arc.
Mitchell believes the biggest difference on that end of the floor since the beginning of the playoffs has been that the Cavaliers have been “Executing our coverage is executing our game plan, and staying on it. Even when we have mishaps, not compounding our mistakes.”
That said, it’s much easier to play defense when an entire area is on your side rather than in a hostile environment, as it will be for the Cavaliers in Games 3 and 4.
With the series shifting North of the border, Mitchell emphasized that Cleveland must double down on what has worked so well for them on the defensive end so far.
“That'd be even more imperative [on Thursday] when we play here,” he said. “It'll be loud. It'll be fired up, you know, I think the biggest thing is just continue to stay together, having each other's back and going from there.”
If the Cavaliers continue to put the defensive pressure on the Raptors, they could be looking at a commanding 3-0 series lead, but if it starts to slip, Cleveland could give Toronto some hope with a win and head into Game 4.
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