Cleveland Cavaliers’ Perimeter Defense Made History Against Magic

Originally posted on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI
By Logan Potosky | Last updated Dec 7, 2023 3:30 PM ET

On Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Orlando Magic, earning their eighth win in their last 11 games.

Cleveland led the game wire-to-wire in their 121-111 victory.

Defensively, the Wine and Gold put on a clinic from behind the arc, holding Orlando to just 2-for-23 (8.7%) from three-point range.

This was the Cavaliers’ lowest opposing three-point percentage in a game since February 20, 2015, when they held the Washington Wizards to just 1-for-16 (6.3%) from deep in a 127-89 road victory.

This was also the Magic’s lowest three-point percentage against the Wine and Gold since April 7, 2013, when Orlando shot just 1-for-13 (7.7%) from three-point territory in a 91-85 Cavaliers victory in Cleveland.

Cavaliers guard Darius Garland discussed his team’s defensive game plan after last night’s game.

“Actually, I’m honestly always just trying to protect the paint as much as possible. We try to protect the paint every game. But tonight, it was just a big emphasis because of Paolo [Banchero] and Franz [Wagner] and Cole [Anthony] trying to get downhill. We tried to just make them shoot a [bunch] of brick threes with a contested hand, and, I mean, it worked out for us tonight.”

However, Cleveland’s defense surrendered 68 points in the paint to the Magic, which were the second-most the Wine and Gold have allowed in a game this season.

The Cavaliers realized that Orlando was able to successfully attack their paint. Even with their stellar perimeter defense against the Magic, Cleveland knows that it still has defensive improvements to make.

“But I think they got in our paint a lot, and I think most of their points [were] in our paint,” Garland said. “So we’ve got to go back and watch that, and try to see what we can fix.”

This article first appeared on Cleveland Cavaliers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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