Jan. 22 (UPI) — Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach David Blatt dissed his old squad’s defense during an interview while coaching at the Turkish BSL All-Star Game.
Blatt coached the Cavaliers to a 53-29 record and NBA Finals appearance in 2014, before being fired in the middle of his second season. Current coach Tyronn Lue took over during the 2015 season, leading the team to a NBA Finals victory against the Golden State Warriors.
The Cavaliers posted a 51-31 record in 2016, but own a 27-18 mark so far this season. Cleveland has lost five of its last six games, including a 148-124 set back on Saturday to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The 148 points allowed tied a franchise record and tied the NBA season-high.
“I hope we don’t give up as many points as the Cavaliers gave up last night,” Blatt told NTV Sport in a pregame interview Sunday.
Blatt ended up eating his words, as his Team Europe squad was outscored 151-142 by Team Asia.
The Cavaliers never allowed more than 127 points during Blatt’s tenure. Blatt, 58, owned an 83-40 record in 123 games while coaching the Cavaliers. He was fired in January of 2016.
Lue, 40, owns a 105-63 record as Cleveland’s coach. Blatt won 67.4 percent of his games at the helm, while Lue has won 62.5 percent of his games coaching the Cavaliers.
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