{"id":553612,"date":"2026-01-22T17:44:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:44:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/553612\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T17:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T17:44:16","slug":"the-cavs-have-won-8-of-12-games-and-are-doing-it-differently-than-in-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/553612\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cavs have won 8 of 12 games and are doing it differently than in past."},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2013 A year ago, the Cavs<\/a> were a \u201cpretty\u201d team. <\/p>\n

If the Cavs are to be a factor in the playoffs and finish this season strong, they have to become more \u201cgritty.\u201d <\/p>\n

I sound like J.B. Bickerstaff with his themes of \u201cembrace the grit \u2026 grit and grind\u201d when he coached the Cavs from 2020-24. <\/p>\n

The Cavs of 2024-25 had the second-highest offensive rating since the NBA began keeping that stat in 1973. The Cavs of 2024-25 led the NBA in scoring (122 points per game), and were second in field-goal percentage (49%) and third in 3-point shooting (38%).<\/p>\n

Coach Kenny Atkinson was hired before the 2024-25 season to transform the Cavs into the Boston Celtics, who won the 2024 NBA title and led the league in 3-point attempts.<\/p>\n

There was some sound logic behind the change from Bickerstaff\u2019s defense-first mindset to a free-flowing offense with terrific shooting. It fit the Cavs\u2019 talent being assembled by the front office. Also, the lack of offense haunted the Cavs in the playoffs during the Bickerstaff Era.<\/p>\n

But that 2024-25 team is basically gone.<\/p>\n

Darius Garland is haunted by toe injuries. He\u2019s had them on both feet. He\u2019s in and out of the lineup. When he plays, he\u2019s a defensive disaster. His offense had started to come around when he injured his other toe last week.<\/p>\n

There are times when I see Garland\u2019s long-term future as instant offense off the bench. He can be a scorer who lifts the team, and also can benefit by not always having to defend opposing starting guards. It\u2019s not ideal to have a guy on a maximum contract coming off the bench. But this really shouldn\u2019t be about contracts; it\u2019s about finding the right rotations and mix of players. <\/p>\n

The Cavs had Ty Jerome coming off the bench as that dynamic scorer last year. He left via free agency for Memphis and has yet to play in a game due to a calf injury. They haven\u2019t been able to replace that super-sub on offense. De\u2019Andre Hunter was supposed to help in that area, but he is frustratingly inconsistent.<\/p>\n

Enough of what was a year ago.<\/p>\n

\"ClevelandEvan Mobley getting back to his Defensive Player of the Year form.
\nJoshua Gunter, cleveland.comReasons for hope<\/p>\n

For all the whining (some of it legitimate) about the Cavs this season, they are 25-20. They have won 8 of their last 12 games. The injuries are real and significant. In Wednesday\u2019s victory in Charlotte, the Cavs used their 24th different starting lineup. They had only 23 all last year. <\/p>\n

I see signs of them coming around for a few reasons:<\/p>\n

When they are winning, they are outrebounding the other team and usually scoring more points in the paint.The young guys bring energy, defense and grit to the game: Jaylon Tyson, Nae\u2019Qwan Tomlin and Craig Porter Jr. Tyrese Proctor is now joining that group.Evan Mobley is getting back to being Evan Mobley, Defensive Player of the Year, and not trying to show he has all these different aspects of his ability to score. <\/p>\n

The Cavs have consistently been outrebounding teams lately. They did that in back-to-back wins in Philadelphia last week. They crushed Charlotte on the boards Wednesday night (60-47). Even in their stinker of a 136-104 loss to Oklahoma City on Monday, they outrebounded the Thunder 54-38 and outscored them in the paint (48-42).<\/p>\n

The difference is the defending champions are an elite team in every aspect in terms of defending all over the court and moving the ball on offense. They are relentless, athletic and on a mission. They held the Cavs to 37% shooting while they shot 54%. <\/p>\n

OKC has the No. 1-ranked<\/a> defense this season. They also were No. 1 last season. <\/p>\n

I\u2019m a bit skeptical of individual defensive rating stats because they partly depend on what type of defense is played. That said, the top four individual defenders<\/a> all play for Oklahoma City, according to Stat Muse. The only Cavalier in the top 25 is Mobley at No. 12. <\/p>\n

The game that bothered me was the 123-112 loss to Utah on Jan. 12. The Cavs were at home. They were destroyed 50-30 on the boards. They had zero energy and forgot about what it now takes for them to win. They should be embarrassed by that game. Utah lost its next four games after beating the Cavs at Rocket Arena. <\/p>\n

\"ClevelandCleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Porter Jr. blocks the shot of 7-foot OKC center Chet Holmgren. John Kuntz, cleveland.comPretty to gritty<\/p>\n

Donovan Mitchell has carried the Cavs this season. This is his best season in his four years with the Cavs. He needs help, and not just on offense. <\/p>\n

For all the talk about not having Garland, the Cavs are 12-7 without him and 13-13 when he plays. Part of the reason for that is Garland is not close to his form of a year ago.<\/p>\n

The player the Cavs miss the most is Sam Merrill. They are 16-8 when he plays, 9-12 when he\u2019s injured.<\/p>\n

Atkinson has been trying to change the Cavs\u2019 focus to becoming a more physical team. Porter, Tomlin and Tyson have earned more minutes. Tyson is starting, so no argument there. <\/p>\n

The injuries have given the young guys chances to play. They can bring grit to the game. Porter has blocked shots of 7-footers, such as Charlotte\u2019s Ryan Kalkbrenner in Monday\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n

Atkinson calls Porter, \u201cMy 6-foot-2 power forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

He\u2019s actually listed at 6-foot-1.<\/p>\n

Larry Nance Jr. is finally healthy, and he can help on the boards and with his defense. <\/p>\n

In some ways, Tomlin reminds me of a very young Dennis Rodman. I\u2019m old enough to have watched Rodman in his first training camp with the Detroit Pistons in 1986. The Cavs played him during the preseason in Windsor, Ontario. <\/p>\n

Last season, basketball often was easy for the Cavs because of their elite shooting and skill level. They simply could outscore most teams. That team is gone and it\u2019s not coming back.<\/p>\n

For the Cavs to make the top six in the East (and avoid the play-in tournament), they need to go from pretty to gritty. Not every game has to be like the 94-87 victory over Charlotte, but some will look that way.<\/p>\n

The Cavs shut down the Hornets, who had the NBA\u2019s highest offensive rating in their previous 10 games before Wednesday night. The Cavs can defend at a much higher level than their current 15th ranking. <\/p>\n

Putting players on the court to deliver that style is a recipe to make that happen, as the Cavs have been doing lately. It\u2019s time for them to go all-in in recreating themselves. <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEVELAND, Ohio \u2013 A year ago, the Cavs were a \u201cpretty\u201d team. If the Cavs are to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":553613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3772],"tags":[7,306,305,193,69732,3846,6,75237],"class_list":["post-553612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-basketball","tag-cavaliers","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-cavaliers","tag-cleveland-cavaliers-2025-2026","tag-clevelandcavaliers","tag-nba","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder-2025-2026"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115939998655277133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/553612\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/553613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=553612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=553612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}