Game Night Observations: Defensive Improvement, Necessary Scoring, and Celebrating Depth

The Cleveland Cavaliers moved to 36-6 on Monday against the Phoenix Suns.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Phoenix Suns 118-92 on Monday afternoon at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

For the first time in a couple of weeks, the Cavs looked like a dominant team. To be clear, they’ve spent much of that time as a dominant offense, but not a dominant team. There had been too much defensive slippage, which peaked against Oklahoma City last Thursday. Prior to Monday’s game, the Cavs had fallen to 26th in defensive rating during the month of January. Opponents had scored 115 or more points in six of the eight games the Cavs had played before facing the Suns.

That’s why the Cavs dominating a game defensively was a step in the right direction. For the most part, the Cavs have now played six consecutive quarters – dating back to the second half of Saturday’s game in Minnesota¹ – of excellent defense. On Monday afternoon, Phoenix didn’t reach 30 points in any quarter, something that hasn’t been true for a Cavs opponent since Dec. 13 against the Washington Wizards.

The theme of this season for the Cavs has been more about building the proper habits and a foundation for postseason success rather than celebrating the wins that have been racked up. The 36-6 record through 42 games is wildly impressive, but it’s not the thing players inside the locker room often point to. The process and the habits are.