Game #36 Cleveland Cavaliers (24-11) @ Utah Jazz (15-21) Saturday December 30th, 2017 [8:00 PM EST]

[czvo]

As for winning a title, we all knew the situation when KD went to GS. Nothing has changed.

 

[InBoobieWeTrust]

Cavs may be 29th in DRTG but in the 4th quarter they're 11th.

Pretty clearly 10000% an effort issue.

 

[Andrew]

What a piss poor effort after the first quarter. This team should be embarrassed.

 

[Taiter]

That stat is truly irrelevant given what we know and what has been proven about the effort issues in the regular season especially defensively. Like, the Cavs getting shredded when they don't try very hard means absolutely nothing in the long-run.


Can the Cavs play good enough defense when it matters. That's the question.

The answer is....yes. The "switch" does exist. They regularly flip it.

Now, can they flip a switch to stop Golden State? No. That doesn't exist. Golden State is quite literally the greatest NBA team of all time. They have 2 of the top 4 offensive players in the league. One of those guys has turned into an elite defender in the paint. They have a top 5 2 guard in the league who is also an elite defender. And one of the top 3 defenders in the league who can also pass,dribble,and shoot. And they have a swiss army knife 6th man who is one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA as well. Like....fuck. The fuck can we really do? So there's no switch to flip there. The Cavs would have a low chance of beating a healthy Warriors team without a trade. I agree. I think the Cavs are going to definitely make a trade. I don't know if the player we need to change that reality is available though. We have to wait and see.

Worth adding that that 6th man is always allowed to hack and foul Lebron James at will, making him doubly difficult.