The Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the worst defensive teams in the entire NBA all season long, but head coach Tyronn Lue has a plan to fix that.
When speaking to reporters, Lue said that Cleveland's defense will be "totally different next week" when the playoff sports.
"We'll probably do things we haven't done all season when it comes to the playoffs, things we've been working on all year," Lue said. "It's the same thing we do every playoffs. So, we'll see what happens.
Cleveland has the second-worst defense in the NBA, allowing 109.5 points per 100 possessions. The Phoenix Suns, who have the worst record in the league, are the only team that is worse.
However, they have ranked 19th in the league with a 108.7 rating since acquiring Jordan Clarkson, George Hill, Rodney Hood, and Larry Nance Jr. at the trade deadline.
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This was the same thing Lue did with the Cavs last year, who said then the team had to "hold back" defensively because they didn't want to show their hand to potential playoff opponents.
"I think we had a team that the last three years, before this year, we had pretty much in place, so we knew when the playoffs started, things we wanted to do, things we worked on all season, we knew we were capable of doing. But with the new guys, we gotta see what they're able to do, so it's been tough trying to balance the two."
Cleveland's defensive rating also ranked 29th in the league last year before they improved to No. 8 of the 16 playoff teams.
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