Cleveland's Tristan Thompson blocks the shot of Atlanta's Kent Bazemore during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.(Photo Dale Zanine USA TODAY Sports)
CLEVELAND Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver caught a pass from Jeff Teague at the three point line and it looked like Korver had a moment to launch a shot.
But big plodding Cleveland center Timofey Mozgov lumbered with all the quickness he could muster and ran Korver off the line. Korver drove to the basket and tried a left handed layup that Mozgov was still able to alter.
That is a small example of how far the Cavaliers' defense has come from allowing easy baskets in the paint and wide open threes to challenging more shots and making it more difficult for opponents to score.
I just think that particularly in the playoffs when you have time to prepare that's really helped us Cavaliers coach David Blatt said.
Cleveland's defense yes Cleveland's defense is an improving work in progress and a significant reason why the Cavaliers are in the Eastern Conference finals up 2 0 on the Hawks and two wins from reaching the NBA Finals.
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After Cleveland's Game 1 victory against the Hawks LeBron James snuck in during an answer that the Cavaliers have the best defense in the playoffs.
Fact checkers went to work and came back with the data. The Cavaliers lead the playoffs in
Points allowed per 100 possessions (98.1)Points allowed at 91.4 per game.Blocked shots at seven per game.Three point shooting field goal percentage allowed (28.6%).Field goal percentage allowed (41.2%) among the four remaining teams.Yes it's the Eastern Conference but a team can only play who the playoff schedule dictates and the Cavaliers have done what's required defensively against Boston Chicago and now Atlanta.
It has a lot to do with when we go out the coaching staff they give us the game plan James said. And for us as players we go out and execute it. For us to win ultimately we have to defend. ... When you defend at a high level you give yourself a chance to win every night.
After Game 2 in which the Cavaliers held the Hawks to 41.8% shooting from the field and 23.1% on three pointers James explained Cleveland's defensive improvement.
We've gotten smarter he said. We've ramped up our communication to a level that at times throughout the season I didn't know we could get to and we're flying around and we're just helping one another in time of need.
We understand that ultimately if we want to win long term we have to defend. It's going to give us the best possible chance to win because the ball doesn't go through the rim all the time and you have to be able to get stops.
Blatt and James said the defensive turnaround began when the Cavs acquired guards Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith from the New York Knicks and Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets in early January. But from those acquisitions until the end of the regular season the Cavs were just the 17th best team in defensive efficiency. Even if you take into account that Shumpert didn't return from an injury Jan. 23 the Cavs still weren't a top 10 defense.
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I do think we were pretty good defensively beforehand. Regardless of what we were rated we were winning a lot of games Blatt said.
But it's difficult to find many stretches where the Cavs were a top 10 defense. The Cavaliers had one impressive period when they went 18 2 from Jan. 15 to Feb. 26 where they were the sixth best defense.
There has been incremental improvement and Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer has noticed.
They've shown an ability to defend and do things at a pretty high level. ... They're making it difficult. We'll see if we can be better he said.
What's working now Even before Kevin Love's injury the Cavaliers were playing better on that end. Tristan Thompson and Mozgov began providing much better protection at the rim and Shumpert James Smith and Kyrie Irving and Matthew Dellavedova as a group became better perimeter defenders tightening up their three point defense. Cleveland also improved its pick and roll defense switching when necessary but also using Thompson's size and quickness to limit the ball handler's penetration and still get back on his man.
We just started to get a rhythm of how we wanted to play defensively how we wanted to cover for one another but it all started with communication and the communications continue to get better and better every month which is how comfortable we're getting with each other James said.
James said the defense starts with Shumpert who has been fantastic in the playoffs guarding Jimmy Butler and Kyle Korver.
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Obviously he has a small window with us but he will be on the all defensive team in this league very soon James said of Shumpert. It starts with him his approach. I love the defensive side. You have a guy like Dellavedova who he takes a challenge and Double T protecting the rim. Mozzy as well in the starting lineup. And everyone else takes it seriously.
With Love out and Irving hobbled the Cavs have become more rugged defensively too. Thompson has been tremendous defending Paul Millsap who is 5 for 19 from the field against Cleveland.
Against the Hawks the Cavs try to pressure the ball as much as possible and prevent Atlanta from getting ball movement that leads to open shots. Cleveland has been successful so far. The Hawks were one of the most efficient offensive teams in the league and they're shooting 42.9% from the field and 20.4% on threes.
You're never going to take everything away from anyone but particularly in the series when you have time to see the team many many times and you have time to prepare you do lock in on doing certain things that you feel will help you lower their efficiency Blatt said. So far we've been able to do that. The task and the challenge will be to do that going forward.
Follow Jeff Zillgitt on Twitter JeffZillgitt.
GALLERY BEST OF THE EAST FINALS
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