Big game from Love overshadows Cavs defensive woes in win

(Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)

With three of their five starters not playing tonight, the Cavs were able to defeat the Milwaukee Bucks at home,
106-100.

Similar to their games in Rio, Kevin Love and Dion Waiters shined on the offensive end of the court, each scoring 20 points. Both were also hot from the three-point line, combining to shoot 8-13 from behind the arc.

Defensively, the Cavs struggled against a Bucks team that won 19 games last year. There were plenty of open shots for the Bucks, and at times, the Cavs looked lost on who they were guarding. Blatt did not to look to happy, as his team gave up 100 points on 46.8 percent shooting.

Playing for LeBron James (rest) tonight, Shawn Marion filled in for him nicely, scoring 11 points and grabbing a team-high seven rebounds. Marion also added a few nice plays on defense, including a big block on John Henson.

Matthew Dellavedova started in place of Kyrie Irving (ankle) for the second straight game and finished with a team-high nine assists. Overall, the Cavs finished with 26 assists and assisted on 76 percent of their field goals.

The win tonight makes the Cavs 3-0 in the preseason.

Three Things

1. Kevin Love is really good. 

His talent has never been questioned, but people wondered if Love could adapt his game playing beside LeBron and Kyrie. We haven't been able to answer that yet, but we have seen how well he can play without them. Love picked up where he left off in Rio by scoring 25 points and grabbing four rebounds, while also shooting 5-7 from three. So far this preseason, Love has been on fire from behind the arc, hitting 10 of his 15 attempts. It is only the preseason, but just imagine how well he'll play when the rest of the big three are on the court.

2. The defense is still a work in progress.

We knew this would be a concern coming into the season, but anything the Milwaukee Bucks can do well against your team will always raise some eyebrows. The Bucks were able to get open shot after open shot in the first half, with the Cavs looking lost at times on that end. Head coach David Blatt even said that there was "no elements of defense" that they did well at in the first half. Part of this has to due with time, as team defense relies on communication and knowing where to be at in certain situations, while part of this has to due with no LeBron to command the leadership role on defense.

3. When your offense is this good, you do not have to worry about the defense.

Trust me, there are serious questions about the interior defense for the Cavs; but as good as their offense is, do we really need to worry about it? The Cavs will be the best team in the NBA this year on offense, with four (yes, four) options to carry the scoring load. When was the last team that employed even three and half such options? Combine that with Blatt's intellectual brilliance on offense, the Cavs will be nearly unstoppable on offense, which will allow them to score more points than they give up (which is the goal of basketball!).

Statline of the game: Kevin Love. 25 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 5-7 on three-pointers.

When the Cavs brought Love in, they expected him to put up big numbers in case LeBron and Kyrie went down. Point in case tonight, as Love led with 25 points in 20 minutes.

What's next: Oct. 15, home (in Cincinnati) against the Indiana Pacers.