Cavs coach Blatt 'disappointed' in lethargic defense despite win

The Cleveland Cavaliers climbed back to .500 with a 118-111 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday, but head coach David Blatt still knows his team will have to be better.

"I can honestly tell you I'm a little disappointed in the moments of lethargy that we have on defense," Blatt said after the game, as reported by ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "And our guys need to understand that if we want to consistently beat great and good teams and very good teams like the one we saw tonight, we cannot afford to sleep for parts of the game or parts of the quarter."

The Pelicans shot only 44 percent in the loss, but they also scored at a rate of 117.1 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com, which brought Cleveland's defensive rating through six games to a 29th-ranked 110.1.

"I'm happy. We beat a very good team. But I'm more concerned than happy," Blatt said. "We want to beat teams consistently? Can't allow ourselves to be lethargic on defense at any point in the game," the first year NBA coach added.

"I think we got to do a better job of recognizing what guys do, what their pros [are], what they don't like to do and force them to do something that they're not comfortable with doing," LeBron James said following the win. "Tonight we gave up 12 three-point attempts to one player and he hit eight of them," James said of Pelicans forward Ryan Anderson.

Anderson scored 23 of his team-high 32 points in the first half, often finding himself open behind the three-point line.

"He's a knock-down shooter, we got to try to make him do a little something that's different," James said.

The Cavs have now won back-to-back games for the first time this season and will get three days off to work on their shoddy D before a road game against the Boston Celtics on Friday.