For some reason, Sebastian Pruiti over at NBA Playbook decided to break down just how bad the Cavaliers’ late game defense was against the Pacers. Spoiler alert: it was terrible.
Sample quote:
So that means that someone has to rotate over to him. That man rotating needs to be J.J. Hickson, who was the hedge man on the pick and roll. Instead, Hickson gets caught ball-watching, looking at what is going on in front of him.
I highly recommend you read the whole thing.
I wish we saw more coverage like this in basketball in general and the NBA specificall. When you watch a football game (college or NFL), the announcers break down the plays and show you how and why something worked (the blocking schemes, the formations, etc). In basketball games, most of the replays are simply highlights of a great move a guy made, which is fine… but doesn’t really tell us much more than “wow, Blake Griffin is incredibly gifted”.