5 Statistics That Are Defining Cleveland Cavaliers' Season so Far
The roller-coaster season for the Cleveland Cavaliers continues, as they've now dropped three out of four contests following an eight-game win streak.
Many of the preseason predictions for Cleveland are coming to fruition.
The offense, powered by LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, has already become one of the best in the league. Unfortunately, the defensive effort on most nights has been lacking, as showcased recently in a 127-98 demolishing by the Atlanta Hawks.
Rim protection has been a major issue, as has the high usage of the starters.
Throughout all their ups and downs, some key statistics are beginning to paint the picture of the Cavs' season thus far. Sitting at 14-10 over a quarter of the year in, Cleveland still has a lot of work to do if it plans on making a deep playoff run.
Cavs Allowing 56.8 Percent Shooting at the Rim, 29th in League
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We knew the Cavaliers might struggle when it came to protecting the paint, but their play at the rim thus far has been nothing short of horrendous.
With no proven shot-blockers on the roster, Cleveland has utilized Anderson Varejao, Tristan Thompson and sometimes even Love to provide help at center. While Varejao and Thompson have been average around the basket (52.2 percent and 51.0 percent, respectively), Love has been downright awful.
Among players facing six or more shots at the rim per game, Love allows the highest opponent conversion rate (61.5 percent) of any NBA player.
Cleveland often messes up its defensive rotations, overpursuing one opponent while leaving another free to slash to the basket.
"Defensively, we definitely took a step back," James told ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin after a Dec. 17 127-98 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. "The communication, the breakdown, the pride—I think the pride of actually defending one-on-one and guarding your man is something that we have to learn and rely on help second. So that plays a part into it as well."
With continued experience playing together and learning where everyone should be on the defensive end, the Cavaliers' team defense should improve. Keeping Love out of one-on-one situations at the basket should help as well.
Source: NBA.com
Starters Averaging 78.3 Points, Bench Just 24.8
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While the Cavaliers' starting lineup has performed as expected, the bench is severely dragging the team down.
The starting five of James, Love, Irving, Varejao and Shawn Marion is putting up close to 80 points per game, second-most in the NBA behind only the Houston Rockets. The Big Three alone are averaging just less than 63 combined points per contest.
Dion Waiters was moved to the bench after just three games this season, with the hope he'd provide a scoring spark that could help balance out the two units. While he's enjoyed a better stretch as of late, Waiters is still averaging just 9.8 points on 40.2 percent shooting from the field. He often struggles to fit into the flow of the offense, relying too heavily on a step-back fadeaway jumper instead.
Coach David Blatt hasn't utilized veteran sharpshooters Mike Miller and James Jones to their full potential, either. Jones has appeared in just nine games all season, despite shooting 50 percent from deep.
Cleveland is jumping out to the best offensive start of any NBA team, averaging 28.5 points in the first quarter, via TeamRankings.com. After James and Love rest to start the second quarter, the offensive output drops to 17th at 24.7 points.
Blatt has to do a better job of balancing his rotations and getting a little more out of the bench. While not expected to be mistaken for the starters in terms of scoring ability, the reserves can't be responsible for a complete drop-off, either.
Source: HoopStats.com
91.9 Possessions Per 48 Minutes, 6th Slowest Pace in NBA
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While the Cavaliers are putting up a solid 103 points per night (seventh in the league), the way they're doing it isn't what we expected.
With a runaway freight train in James, a dazzling ball-handling wizard in Irving and an outlet quarterback in Love, the Cavs were supposed to push the pace and attack in transition.
Instead, they've been one of the most pedestrian in the league.
This is quite a shame, really, given the team's personnel and success when they do get out and run. Cleveland is averaging 1.929 points per possession on the fast break, good for eighth in the league, via TeamRankings.com. Unfortunately, its 13.7 fast-break points per game rank just 10th.
Given the quality of athletes on the roster, this second figure should be much greater.
Following a 113-87 win on Nov. 26 over the Washington Wizards, head coach Randy Wittman told Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group: "When they get out in the open floor, a lot of time's LeBron's got the ball. He finds people and creates things in the open floor. That's hard. That's why it's important for us that we've got to be able to get our defense set. We didn't do that tonight."
Love acknowledged the team's strong play when they push the pace that same night, according to Fedor: "We have mentioned when we play fast we are a better team. We make good decisions on the fly. We've managed to play pretty well in the last two games at an uptempo pace."
Considering the amount of talent on the floor at any given time, Cleveland needs to push the ball in transition as much as possible.
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Cavs' Offensive Rating 16.2 Points Higher with Irving in Game
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We knew Irving was pretty good at this scoring thing, but his impact on the offense has been nothing short of amazing.
With Irving in the game, Cleveland posts an offensive rating of 115.0. When he rests, the team drops to 98.8. This is the biggest differential of any Cav, including Love (6.1) and James (3.8).
It's also worth noting that Irving splits his minutes between being a sidekick to James and the team's go-to guy. Irving is often pulled with a few minutes remaining in the first quarter with James and Love still in the game. When they get a breather at the start of the second, it's up to Irving to carry the offense.
The fourth-year point guard is averaging 19.9 points and 5.3 assists while shooting 37.5 percent from deep. The Cavs have an effective field-goal percentage of 52.5 percent with Irving on the court, per 82games.com. When he's on the bench, their shooting drops to 45.8 percent.
Although his scoring has dipped recently, Irving has still been putting the work in, even after games. James may have taken over chief playmaking duties this season, but Irving has been the heartbeat of the Cavaliers offense.
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
LeBron James' Low PER Of...25.7?
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The league average for player efficiency rating is always 15.0, so 25.7 must be really good, right?
Well, yes and no.
For about 98 percent of all NBA players, anything north of 25 is extremely good. That is, unless your name is LeBron James.
He owns a lifetime PER of 27.7, a rating that puts him first among all active NBA players. Only a guy by the name of Michael Jordan has been more efficient throughout his career (27.9).
Six times, James has led the league in PER, including every season from 2007-08 through 2012-13. This year, his 25.7 rating places him sixth in the NBA.
The last time James fell this far in the standings? 2006-07, when his 24.5 PER also finished sixth. At that time, James was 23 and had played in just one NBA Finals.
What's behind this drop? One could point to the supporting cast of the Cavs, with guys like Irving and Love demanding the offense be spread around. Love, Varejao and Thompson have cut James' rebounding to just 5.4 per night, the lowest he's ever collected in 12 seasons.
His shooting has also taken a hit. James is connecting on 49.4 percent of his shots from the field, the lowest number since 2008-09. In four years with the Miami Heat, James never dipped below 51.0 percent.
An encouraging sign? James has upped his shooting to 53.1 percent in December, which is perhaps a signal his PER may be on the rise as well.
Source: Basketball-Reference.com
Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers for Bleacher Report since 2010.
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