Orlando, Fla. - Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley may not return to the Cavaliers lineup anytime soon.
This was probably already obvious, but even more so in the Cavs' 120-115 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night—arguably their worst loss of the season for a team at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.
The practically non-existent defensive effort highlighted how much the Cavs have missed their All-Star center in Allen (fractured finger) and Rookie of the Year candidate in Mobley (sprained ankle) in recent weeks Is. But even so, his absence is no excuse for what happened on Tuesday, even though it does raise a lot of questions about what it means for the Cavs going forward with the play-in tournament.
"They can anchor the defense," said Laurie Markkanen. "They're doing a great job of communicating and we clearly miss them. But we don't know when they'll be back and we'll have to figure it out. Try to figure it out without them yet. I guess I think we can play a lot better. Even with those guys out, we could have done a lot better tonight."
Against the Magic, the Cavs allowed two 30-point quarters. He allowed Orlando to make 16-of-35 3-pointers, and let them go into the paint at will. The Cavs finished with a defensive rating of 121.7.
It was a demonstration in direct opposition to the identity that the Cavs ugly won this year and created as "junk dogs". But considering playing a large lineup with Allen, Mobley and Markkanen at the same time also become one of their calling cards, these two injuries could not have come at a worse time.
Allen has been out since March 8, missing the last 16 consecutive games after he cut his finger on the rim in an attempt to counter a shot in their March 6 win over the Raptors. Mobley has lost the last five games against the Magic on March 28 after collapsing his ankle.
In the last 16 games, the Cavs have gone 6-10 and as a team have managed to achieve just 117.3 defensive ratings. For context, his defensive rating for the year is 108.7, thanks in large part to how he played in the first half of the season. It's still good enough for sixth in the league.
Individually, Mobley and Allen have the best defensive ratings of any normal Cleveland starters, at 106.6 and 106.7, respectively. Both are excellent at converting shots and using their verticality on defense - especially Mobley who has 132 blocks this season against just 145 individual fouls.
Without him, the Cavs were forced to ask a little more of everyone, especially Markkanen who had to play outside his normal position.
“They are the two guys who are going to go forward, going to compete for the all-defensive team in the NBA and be on that first team, maybe even compete for defensive POY,” said Kevin Love. "So we definitely miss them and what they bring to the table. We hope they are very close to being back, I don't know the answer, but they mean our identity as a team, our defensive Appearance matters a lot.
"We're just a better team when we have more players and there are certainly guys who are the perennial types of All-Star guys of the future."
When it comes to Mobley and Allen's potential returns, nothing is certain. Won't back down before the CAV is ready, no matter what the stakes.
In Allen's case, it's hard to predict how a broken bone will heal, but there has been some optimism in recent days about his return ahead of the regular season finale against the Bucks on Sunday. Pregame, coach JB Bickerstaff said Allen is making progress every day.
Mobley got into on-court work before Tuesday's game, and it will be two full days before the Cavs face Brooklyn in their next game on Friday.
Whenever the two eventually return, they will be welcomed with open arms. The Cavs have two more games to try to stay on the No. 7 seed, which will give them homecourt advantage for the play-in tournament and they only need to win one game to make it to the traditional seven-game playoff series. Will be If they get into the No. 9 versus No. 10 play-in game (which is still a possibility given how close the standings are), they'll need to win two games to make the playoffs. Loss of the No.7 vs. No.8 game in the second play-in contest.
But without those two, and given this rough stretch, there's no denying that Cleveland's defense is in the best shape—something that hasn't been true for most of the season, and that waits for stakes. is related to it.
"It's hit or miss," Bickerstaff said. "We have our moments where we're solid, and we're really good at what we do. And then we have our moments where we don't get the job done. And then, for the most part this year people gave us Like I said, it's disappointing that at this very moment, we had one of these nights. But that's not what our team has been."