The Cleveland Cavaliers’ poor defense and poor starting lineup selection cost them a 131-122 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The statistics in the table below are from Clean Glass.
|
effective field goal percentage |
Offensive rebound rate |
offensive turnover rate |
free throw percentage |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cavaliers |
58.8%, 75th percentile |
21.3%, 16th percentile |
12.5%, 72nd percentile |
16.5, 25th percentile |
|
Timberwolves |
68.5%, 98th percentile |
16.5%, 33rd percentile |
31%, 61st percentile |
10.1, 5th percentile |
Now, let’s dig into the numbers.
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The Cavaliers’ starting lineup, featuring their core four and Craig Porter Jr., posted a minus-19 score in nine and a half minutes.. They trailed by nine points in the five minutes of the first quarter and by 10 points in the four and a half minutes of the third quarter. You can’t be that far behind at the start of the first half and expect to be in the game under any circumstances.
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Minnesota completed its first seven field goal attempts. This set the tone for a game that they absolutely controlled in this aspect. Despite a 9-17 record at the charity stripe (52.9 percent), the Timberwolves posted an impressive 127.2 offensive rating (84th percentile).
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Timberwolves shot 18-23 (78.3%) in the paint (83rd percentile). Minnesota excels at getting to the rim, and they deserve credit for that. The Cavaliers, meanwhile, aren’t making it particularly difficult for them to do so. Poor defensive rotations and turnovers led to open three-pointers and allowed Minnesota to attack the rim at will.
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Cavaliers forced 16 turnovers and scored off turnovers to beat Timberwolves 24-14. Head coach Kenny Atkinson wants his defense to constantly pressure the ball, double teams and steal the ball. They performed really well on Thursday and took some advantage from it. But just like how the Timberwolves shoot open threes with ease and focus on the rim, the Cavaliers are either not good enough or don’t understand where the rotations need to be for this defense to produce consistent results. Even if the defense does what it wants, the consequences far outweigh the benefits.
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Timberwolves rank 77th percentile in transition point addition. This has been a recurring problem for the Cavaliers. Their poor outside shooting (as was the case here) and inconsistent effort led to this.
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Cavaliers lost by 21 points in third quarter. This is the most points they have scored in a single quarter this season. Their previous worst result was 19.
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Sam Merrill made 5 of 11 three-pointers. He almost single-handedly got the Cavaliers back into the game with 11 points in the fourth quarter. Merrill seems to have improved in every area this season, including his already lethal outside shot.
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Outside of Merrill Lynch, the Cavaliers shot 6-22 from three-point range (27.3%).. That’s not a good number for a team whose offense still relies on outside shooting.
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Timberwolves scored 27 more points from beyond the arc. Overcoming such a big gap on three-pointers is nearly impossible. Even if you dominate the paint like the Cavs do.
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Cleveland is 22-29 (75.9%) against in the paint (76th percentile). While the three-pointers weren’t falling, their ability to get to the rim and finish kept their offensive output below league average. The Cavaliers defeated the Timberwolves 66-50 in the paint.
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Donovan Mitchell shot 8-12 from two-point range (66.6%). This allowed him to score a game-high 30 points while shooting 2 of 8 from three-point range.
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The Cavaliers are currently 5-12 against teams ranked in the top 10 in point differential.. They’ve been on the wrong side of these games. In comparison, last season they had a record of 16 wins and 6 losses against such opponents.
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Cleveland has now matched last season’s loss total. The Cavaliers suffered their 18th loss in the 82nd game last season. This year, they did it after turning just 39 years old. What a huge change this year has made.
