CLEVELANDThe Cavaliers are working on a defensive plan for the playoffs, and it's gonna be huge.At least, that's what they're leading everyone to believe.As Cleveland continues to get torched defensively on a nightly basis, no one on the team seems very concerned. Since the All-Star break, only the Los Angeles Lakers have been worse when it comes to stopping teams from scoring, and they're essentially trying to lose in order to save their protected first-round pick.But we shouldn't be worried, right'"We've got to hold back. We can't show our hand early because...these are some good teams and we don't want them to be able to come into a series and be able to adjust to what we do," head coach Tyronn Lue said after his team gave up 127 points in a loss to the Washington Wizards on March 25. "We just have to be able to play our normal defense until we get there and then we will see what happens."If the goal is to hold back, these Cavaliers are doing one hell of a job.Their 113.5 defensive rating since the break is 29th in the NBA, dragging the overall season rating down to 22nd overall (110.4). Over the last 24 games, opponents have failed to crack 100 points just three times.Of course, history has not been kind to teams who don't defend. Cleveland now looks to not only buck that trend but perhaps lay a new blueprint for postseason success.Defense = Championships (Most of the Time)Over the past 40 years, only three teams that finished the regular season outside the top 10 in defensive rating went on to win a championship that June.The most recent were the 2000-2001 Los Angeles Lakers, whose 104.9 defensive rating was ranked just 21st in the Association. That's just one spot off Cleveland's mark this year.Of course, those Lakers and these Cavaliers share a common bond in Lue."It was different; we had a lot of old guys like we do now, but, other than that it's different," said Lue, then a 23-year-old backup point guard. "I wouldn't say it's the same, but we do have three dynamic players offensively that are pretty good."That Lakers team had just come off a championship, led by Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and head coach Phil Jackson. They sported the league's No. 1 rated defense just a season before dropping to 21st after winning their first championship together.This seems to be a theme.All three of the teams (2001 Lakers, 1995 Houston Rockets and 1988 Lakers) that finished outside the top 10 in defense and still won a title were defending champions. Since the personnel didn't change much from year to year, one can only assume the defensive effort exuded from these franchises coming off championships was lackluster at best.The same can very much be said of these Cavs.Individual ConcernsOutside of LeBron James, Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith, it's tough to find quality one-on-one defenders in Cleveland's rotation.According to NBA Math, only four of the Cavaliers' 15 players have a positive defensive score. Kyrie Irving grades out as one of the league's worst defenders, a metric that the eye test definitely backs up.In the most recent loss to the Wizards, John Wall lit Irving up for 37 points and 11 assists on 14-of-21 shooting from the field. Washington shot 59.8 percent as a team, the second-highest mark Cleveland has allowed since James returned in 2014.Irving's defense has floated between average and All-Star game-esque for years now but appears to be especially terrible as of late.When Iman Shumpert shares the backcourt with Irving, Lue will often cross-match the two defensively so that Irving receives the easier defensive assignment. Against teams like the Wizards with two dynamic guards, however, Irving can't hide."It's a lot of pressure," Lue said of Irving guarding Wall and others. "It's tough but it's part of the NBA. Just got to step up and do it."Irving's 108.8 defensive rating this season isn't pretty, but it is far from the worst on the team. Other rotation players like Channing Frye (110.4) and Kyle Korver (113.7) can be liabilities as well.Even Thompson, Cleveland's lone rim protector appears to be wearing down from his first year as a full-time starting center. Over the past six games, he's averaging just 6.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks."When Tristan plays against those big centers, it's tough on him," Lue said. "To play every single night for four straight years, that was a big reason we started (Timofey Mozgov) last year. You don't want (Thompson) to have to wrestle with those big guys on a night-to-night basis. We just have to try to figure out ways to get him off the floor like last night, getting his minutes down. Then getting him off the floor tonight trying to do the same thing. He's the only center we have. He has to play right now."Cleveland did find a reliable backup for Thompson in Andrew Bogut. A fractured tibia 58 seconds into his Cavaliers career quickly opened the search back up, however.Larry Sanders was the next option to provide relief for Thompson, but it appears he's nowhere close to playing rotation minutes."Well, we have to try to get him in some better shape. Right now his timing and shape is not good," Lue said. "That's why he's been in the D-League playing and trying to get ready. The guys in the D-League say he's been great. He's just trying to work and trying to get to that point."Right now Tristan is all we have."Can the Switch be Flipped'Clearly, the Cavaliers aren't emptying the defensive playbook in the regular season. Their pick-and-roll coverages are often atrocious. Opposing teams are getting downhill with regularity, looking to push the ball in transition where Cleveland suffers.Can Cleveland simply turn the defense on and off whenever they choose'"I mean, you don't want that,"Wizards head coach Scott Brookssaid. "Cleveland has enough talent they can flip the switch and get on a defensive roll.""You're not going to be at a high level defensively night in and night out. It's almost impossible," Brooks told Bleacher Report. "They've got so many good scorers they can win (in spite of defense). When you've got a lot of offensive firepower, you kind of forget on the defensive end. They have all the talent to be a good defensive team like they've always been." This is a reference to the NBA Finals last season, where Cleveland shook off a mediocre defense to clamp down on the Golden State Warriors when they really needed to. It's a time that Lue quickly points out to those who doubt his team's ability to rise to an occasion."We know this group has it in us to lock into teams defensively. Golden State last year, holding them to under 40 percent I think three or four games, probably the best offensive team in NBA history. We can do it, and it's in us, so we've just got to start putting it together," Lue told B/R.In the Finals facing the 73-win Warriors, Cleveland held Golden State to 39.5 percent shooting over the final five games, going 4-1 in that span. Despite this ultimate switch-flipping, James doesn't want to use what happened last June as a measuring stick now."We just got to figure it out and continue to see what fits our group, see what fits our lineup, see what fits our team as a whole and what's going to give us the best shot to win each and every game," James said. "Like I said, you can't base last year on this year. This year is different. Every year is different, so I think our coaching staff will figure that out for us."For now, it appears Lue and his staff have something up their sleeves for the postseason that they're obviously not sharing with anyone outside the locker room. Of course, it may all be a distraction to cover up what's been a horrid few weeks of defense.According to Brooks, teams are still wary of what the Cavaliers can morph into when the bright lights come on."Come playoff time, they're still the defending champs, they still have one of the best players to ever play the game and they're always going to be there at the end."Cavaliers' Insider NotebookThe St. Vincent-St. Mary SpursFollowing Saturday's loss to the Wizards, LeBron James was asked to preview the Cavaliers' matchup vs. the San Antonio Spurs on Monday, referencing their recent strong play."They've been playing well for the past 20 years," James said with a smirk. "Nothing has changed."And what about his high school alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in Akron, that just captured their record-tying seventh Ohio state championship'"Just like the Spurs," James said.Trusting Deron WilliamsLast year's backup point guard, Matthew Dellavedova, completely fell out of the coach Lue's Finals rotation.Deron Williams has since taken over the role of reserve floor general, averaging 7.2 points and 3.6 assists while shooting 52.0 percent from the field. Even though he's spent just 14 games in a Cavaliers uniform, Lue said that Williams would indeed receive Finals minutes."Oh yeah, for sure," Lue told Bleacher Report. "He's a savvy vet who knows how to play. He can play pick-and-roll, shoot the basketball. He just knows how to play. Starting out in Utah where he had a great system and was able to run a lot of pick-and-rolls and know all the reads to the pick-and-rolls. He's been phenomenal, and it's great that we have him here."Outscoring LeBron'James is averaging 26.1 points per game this season, slightly above Irving's career-best 25.5.Why is this significant' In his 14 NBA seasons, no teammate has ever outscored James. Irving is on a hot streak offensively, scoring 20 or more points in 21 straight games and counting, the longest current streak in the league.Since sitting out a nationally televised game against the Los Angeles Clippers on March 18, Irving is averaging 32 points per game, highlighted by a 46-point performance in a 125-120 win over the Lakers.Irving holds the Cavaliers' franchise record of 57 points in a single game, set back against the San Antonio Spurs on March 12, 2015.Stats viaBasketball ReferenceandNBA.comand are accurate through March 26.Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @CavsGregBR.
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