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NBA Cleveland Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers Finally Show Life on Defense

By @The_Only_Grubes

Cleveland Cavaliers

Jason Miller/Getty Images

For one night, all is right in the city of Cleveland.

The Cleveland Cavaliers took care of business Monday night, smashing the Orlando Magic 106-74 in a game that was lopsided fairly early.

Once again, the Cavaliers got off to a rough start from the very beginning, allowing an easy follow-up to Magic center Nikola Vucevic after Evan Fournier was able to make an easy drive along the baseline for a reverse lay-up opportunity. A few plays later, guard Victor Oladipo was able to drive through three Cavaliers defenders to get an easy look at the basket, showing the Cavaliers’ lack of defensive intensity early on.

Luckily for head coach David Blatt, Cleveland got the message early on and fixed its problems on that end of the floor.

LeBron James took control of the game from the start and hustled up and down the floor for multiple fast break dunks, really setting the tone for the evening, as his effort and hustle rubbed off on everyone else, which led to a lot of the Cleveland players to play the passing lanes and press on defense in order to get deflections and steals that ultimately led to easy points in transition. Overall, the Cavaliers had 21 fast break points compared to the Magic’s six, something that really shaped the game into the blowout it became.

The fast break became an effective weapon for the Cavaliers because of their 14 steals and nine blocks on defense. This kind of intensity and defensive play has been rare for Cleveland this season, but it proves just how dangerous this team can be when defense and effort become top priorities, not just selfish scoring.

Even though defense was certainly the key thing from this game, it was also nice to see Kyrie Irving be more focused on setting up his teammates than going out and getting his. Irving had 12 points on 5-of-9 shooing, and even though he only had four assists on the night, he showed great vision and passing instinct in initiating quality ball movement both in transition and in the half court. Irving did not jack up a lot of pointless shots, and simply waited until a good look came to him instead of trying to create his own shot every time down the floor. This kind of play from Irving will benefit his team greatly and set the Cavaliers up for great success this season. His defensive effort was also evident, as he came away with four steals, showing that he can be a threat defensively when he tries.

The Cavaliers wanted to win this game, and they did in convincing fashion. The Magic have played some top teams fairly close this season, so its not like they were a total pushover. The Cavaliers were just too dominant at home, showing the kind of team they can be as long as they play up to their potential.

Nathan Grubel is an NBA writer for Rant Sports. Follow him on Twitter @The_Only_Grubes, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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