Game Night Observations: Winning With Defense, An Off Offensive Night and Missing Dean Wade

The long local nightmare (a three-game losing streak) is over.

The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Detroit Pistons 110-91 on Monday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

After the past week the Cavs had, they were a team in need of a win. For most teams, losing three straight games in the middle of January isn’t a big deal. Ultimately, for this Cavs team it likely won’t even be a footnote¹ on the season when all is said and done.

When a team is in the midst of the losing streak, however, it does feel like a big deal. That was evident on Monday against the Pistons with what appeared to be a renewed sense of focus, particularly on the defensive end of the floor.

It’s no secret that’s been the area that has been the most trouble for the Cavs lately. They entered Monday’s game with the 28th-ranked defense in the NBA during the month of January. It’s been the worst full-month the franchise has had relatively to the rest of the NBA since they were 26th in defense during March of 2021-22.

A few things can be true about the defense — and really the team that’s been in a bit of a January funk. The schedule has been tough, both in terms of opponents and travel/rest, injuries have hit the rotation, really testing the depth of the roster, and the team has been so good offensively that things have slipped defensively.

That being said, a team that features Evan Mobley on it should be able to be an average defense without even putting shoes on before hitting the hardwood.