The Cavaliers won’t win many games shooting 36 percent from the field as they did Sunday night at The Q.
Of course, they also haven’t had many opportunities to play an opponent on a more dubious slide than their own.
While the Cavs ended a 10-game losing streak on Friday, the Orlando Magic has been there, done that twice already this season. They arrived in Cleveland losers of 12 of their past 13 with several of their best players sidelined.
So nobody should have been surprised by the quality of play from a pair of teams combining for 43 wins. The Cavaliers converted 32-of-89 field-goal attempts, but were just stout enough defensively to earn a 91-85 victory. It marked their worst shooting performance in a win since April 6, 2012 against Toronto, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, when they hit 34.2 percent of their tries.
“What did we shoot?’’ asked forward Tristan Thompson who was told 36 percent.
He paused before adding: “Defense wins games. There it is.”
It helps when the opposition treats the 3-point arc like an electric-shock zone. The Magic shot 1-of-13 from distance and finished 37.8 percent overall from the floor.
Orlando’s poor offensive output and the Cavs’ commitment to defense in the second half allowed the home team to win back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 26-27, when the Indians were loosening limbs and breaking in mitts under the Arizona sun.
The victories also relieved some pressure on coach Byron Scott, whose job security was a serious talking point a week ago after a 113-95 home loss to Brooklyn.
“I think the biggest thing it says is they haven’t given up, they haven’t quit,” Scott said. “Like we have been saying, they are going to play it out.”
After posting career highs in points (29) and rebounds (17) at Boston on Friday, Thompson had another energetic outing with 15 points and 16 rebounds. Alonzo Gee led the Cavs (24-52) in scoring with 19 points. Kyrie Irving continued to struggle from the field – he connected on 3-of-15 field-goal attempts — but contributed 10 assists and drew praise from Scott for being more defensively conscious in the past two games.
Make no mistake, however, Sunday was not a night for those squeamish at the sight of blood and the sound of coaches trying to rationalize losing.
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