Tyronn Lue believes lineup switch helped Cavs’ defense

It’s only been one game, but Tyronn Lue likes what starting Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson gives the Cavs.

“I think Kevin and Tristan worked really good together on the defensive end pulling the trigger big-big,” Lue said after the Cavs beat the Pacers on Friday. “I thought we were able to blitz and then get a body on the big and Kevin would rotate to the opposite big.

”They did a good job defensively. I thought they did a good job of playing all the way through. They hit some shots at the end of the shot clock, which was tough. But overall I have to look at the tape but I thought we did a good job defensively.”

The Cavs still posted a bad defensive rating — 106.9, per ESPN — but it was 2.9 points better than their overall season mark. But there were fewer head-scratching moments and the effort level seemed to the better. That’s at least some progress.