Iman Shumpert on Paul George during the regular season. Photo by Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports
Of all the questions facing the Cleveland Cavaliers going into the playoffs, the most urgent was whether they would be able to flip the switch on their defense, which had been one of the NBA's worst in the regular season. They're now two games into their series against the Indiana Pacers, and so far, not so good.The Cavs are up 2-0 on Indiana, but it hardly feels like much of an accomplishment. Cleveland allowed 1.12 points per possession in Game 2 on Monday. In the fourth quarter, they allowed 1.33 points per possession. Yes, these numbers come from a sample size far too small to justify any real outrage, but they're still awful. They're also real reason for concern given the team's struggles on that end during the regular season.But there may be a silver lining to find, here. J.R. Smith left Game 2 with a hamstring injury, which forced Tyronn Lue to insert Iman Shumpert into the rotation. (Shumpert was a healthy scratch in Game 1.) It's unreasonable to take one quarter of solid defense and claim Shumpert is the answer, but his performance—and 94.6 defensive rating—stands out as a bright spot in an otherwise cloudy situation.Even though Cleveland's defense struggled in the fourth, Shumpert's individual matchup on Paul George throughout the third was a noticeable improvement over Smith's. He didn't get lost shadowing George around baseline screens; he didn't lazily switch off George, and gift Indy the matchup they're hunting for. Instead, he defended one of the best scorers in the sport about as well as anyone could.The Cavs weren't noticeably better on defense during the regular season with him on the floor, but Shumpert provides something few on Cleveland's roster can: he's a solid, physical on-ball defender who can guard multiple positions. He's strong, with solid lateral quickness and decent length—just the type of body Cleveland needs to take a step in the right direction. The Cavaliers defense will never be perfect, but any chance of beating the Golden State Warriors in a potential Finals showdown disintegrates without Shumpert's springy athleticism somewhere in the rotation.