They have 7 players averaging double figures in the series despite playing at an 89.5 pace. Nobody with 25+ points per game.

This is 2012-14 era Spurs-level beautiful game basketball right now.

Darius Garland missed game 3, and Donovan Mitchell had an off night. No matter:

Ty and De’Andre came off the bench and gave them 34 points on 23 shots, 14 assists to 2 turnovers, plus 7 boards and a couple steals. Cavs *increase* their ORtg for the series.

Also, this will make scores higher, not lower, and creates more points of failure for a defense.

If you can live with that, however, it would add an extra layer of strategy and could re-invigorate the elbow J for bigs.

There’s a lot of bad basketball in NBA history. But also a ton of cool and fun players that did all they could within the rules and dominant strategies of the time.

Without 04 DET defense doesn’t get to where it is today. It was proof of concept, stonewalling the seemingly inevitable Lake Show.

Moreover, this was very much the borderline between the old era and the new. Illegal defense was newly removed, and this Pistons team was the first to really get how to weaponize that with what we now consider defensive fundamentals.

The Lakers were a chemistry nightmare that made the current Grizz locker room seem like a ‘happy place,’ Glove and Karl were washed, Laker role players were always notoriously limited, and Shaq was at the end of year 12 of lugging that 350+ lb frame up and down the court.

I think that’s gotta be Dennis, but Adams is certainly the most dominant in the modern game.

I think for the sake of a model, treating an MVP as an MVP makes sense. If its worthiness is in question, that likely shows up in the rest of the profile.

But for subjective ranking of players that show up in the same ‘tier’ based on accolades, I think it’s necessary to look at context.

Oklahoma City has been the best regular season team by a solid margin, yet they could conceivably face three Tier A opponents en route to the Finals—not an easy task given that each would test them in different ways.

There can be noise in these numbers, so take them with a grain of salt.

But when all evidence consistently points the same direction, I think it’s fair to call this a *very* worthy DPOY season.

On a team that’s lost just 8 times when Mobley plays, he truly is the keystone to their defense.

These aren’t empty contests, either. Mobley defends 9.2 shots per game inside 10 feet, with an expected FG% of 58.3%, yet opponents are shooting just 52.1% on these looks.

Likewise, beyond the arc he defends 4.6 shots per game, expected FG% of 35.5%, yet opponents are shooting 31.3%.

Mobley is a big part of both strengths. His ability to defend the interior and perimeter at a high level is integral to the Cavs defensive approach.

Only two players in the NBA rank top 10 in both 2 pointers AND 3 pointers contested per game—Mobley, and Walker Kessler.

This is a function of the Cavs running teams off the 3 point line:

They are No. 6 at allowing the fewest 3-point attempts, willing to funnel drivers to their bigs rather than give up a lightly contested 3.

Where do the Cavs defend well?

It might surprise you, but they actually give up more shots at the rim than most teams.

However, this is done with purpose:

The Cavs are No. 1 in opponent FG% inside 3 feet at 64.5%, a full 5 points better than league average, and 2.1 points better than 2nd place.

What is the Cavs’ defense good at?

Four factors (per BBRef):
eFG% = .526, 4th
TOV% = 12.8, 16th
DReb% = 75.4, 12th
FT/FGA = .182, 12th

The focus is on shot defense, while not ignoring the other factors.

Remember, these numbers are happening alongside the No. 1 offense in the league. Every coach wants to play two-way lineups, of course. But when push comes to shove Kenny Atkinson will put skill, shooting, and speed on the court ahead of size and rebounding, relying on his elite bigs to make it work.

Mobley ON with no Allen, Wade, or Hunter still has a 110.6 defensive rating over ~1200 poss, +4.5 points better than league median.

But when Mobley is paired with Wade and/or Hunter in these staggers, the defensive rating jumps to 106.2 over ~700 poss, a truly elite unit.

Let’s dig deeper into Mobley’s splits, however.

67 games into the season, the Cavs only have 3 bench players with it at least 51 GP—and one is in Atlanta now.

When Dean Wade (47 GP) or De’Andre Hunter (14 GP) aren’t in, these staggers trend small—often 3 guards, sometimes Strus or Okoro at the 4.