Cavs are fighting porous defense and NBA history

His team’s defense is just not working anymore, but Lue is holding onto hope that he will be able to unveil some wrinkles when the postseason tips off next month.

Should Cleveland close the year with much the same defense we’ve seen lately, and still earn a spot in the Finals in two-and-a-half months, the Cavaliers will earn a special place in modern league history: They’ll be, statistically, the worst regular-season defensive team ever to reach the NBA Finals.

In fact, only one other team since the league expanded to divisional play in 1970-71 has finished in the 20s in defensive efficiency in the regular season and still made the playoffs.

It was the 2015 Cavs, ranked 20th in defensive efficiency two years ago.

Of the 92 teams that have played for the NBA championships since 1971, only 11 have finished outside the top 10 in defensive efficiency.

Adjusting for the fact that the league has expanded from 17 teams to 30 over those years, only five teams the 2015 Cavaliers, the 2001 Lakers, the 1998 Jazz, the 1983 Lakers and the 1981 Rockets have been in the bottom half of the league in defensive efficiency and still wound up in the Finals.

The Cavaliers are a terrible defensive team when it comes to guarding transition, allowing 1.19 points per possession, worst in the league.

And with Kyrie Irving heading up the team’s PNR defense, the Cavs have been awful when it comes to coping with the play all year.

There are other problems with the defense that show just how lead-footed the Cavs’ defense is.

There are tweaks Lue can make during the postseason to change the Cavs’ pick-and-roll coverage and to hide Irving’s weak defense having James and/or Iman Shumpert pick up the ball more, throwing in more aggressive traps from time to time.