This troubling trend for the Cavs continues in their recent loss to the Pacers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have established themselves as the best team in the NBA this season. However, their performance of late has not been without its defensive shortcomings. After halftime, they were noticeably struggling to maintain their lead. This trend made their recent win over the Toronto Raptors much closer than expected. Even more troubling was Cleveland’s recent loss to the Indiana Pacers. In that game, the Cavs failed to score at least 100 points. This was the first time The Cavs have fallen below that threshold all season.

Despite the Cavs’ offensive struggles in the second half against the Pacers, Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson focused on the team’s defensive issues. He pointed out that the defense weakened significantly in the last 24 minutes of the game. Atkinson was particularly frustrated with their effort just after half-time. It was clear to him that defensive consistency was lacking when it mattered most.

“Just disappointed with (our) defensive mindset in that third quarter and really the whole second half,” Atkinson said after the Cavs’ 108-93 loss to the Pacers.

In Cleveland’s last five games, the team has struggled in the third quarter while their opponents have dominated during this period. On average, these opponents are scoring 36.8 points per third quarter and shooting an impressive 58.9 percent from the field. This performance marks the worst defensive performance in the NBA during that span.

“Our standards have to be higher,” Atkinson said. “We tend to relax when we get these contacts, and you know how the NBA is right now; a snap of a finger, and suddenly, the score is tied. So I just think there’s a bit of complacency when we get the lead, but it’s alarming.

“We’ll look into it.” Let’s dive deeper into it, but it seems to be mentally unprepared when you come out of the locker room and relaxed.

As the Pacers strengthened the Cavs, a worrying trend in defense

While Cleveland is 4-1 in their last games, their loss to the Pacers broke the Cavs’ streak. Indiana settled down on defense and forced Cleveland to overload on offense, making it too difficult for the Cavs to maintain or even build momentum.

In the third quarter, the Cavs committed seven turnovers, with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland combining for three of those turnovers. Those turnovers led to six easy points for Indiana and a total of 12 points off turnovers during the quarter.

“We kind of, as they say, earned it,” Atkinson admitted after the 108-93 loss to the Indiana Pacers. “We had two days off. Two days to prepare for this game. We didn’t do a great job from a coaching standpoint.”

As a result, the Cavs’ 15-point lead quickly turned into a six-point deficit by the end of the quarter, and the blame for this collapse rests squarely on Cleveland’s shoulders. Indiana’s pressure interrupted their offensive flow and allowed the Pacers to dictate the closing moments of the match.

“We didn’t play up to our standards,” Garland said. “The first half was pretty good and the second half kind of ran away from our principles.” They dictated the second half.”

While Indiana’s defensive pressure confused the Cavs throughout the game, they already know what adjustments must be made to prevent that from happening again. According to Garland, if Indiana continues to press all over the field, Cleveland’s players must set screens to separate defenders and the ball-handling secondary must be ready.

While that may seem like a simple enough concept, now that the Cavs understand the Pacers’ defensive pressure, it may be easier to adapt to it on the fly with their own counterattack.