Cleveland Cavaliers Still Haven't Reached Their Ceiling on Offense
The Cleveland Cavaliers are back in the NBA Finals. This time, they're fully healthy and propelled by their suddenly dynamic offense.
What's really scary? For as good as their onslaught has been during these playoffs, the Cavs possess the potential for growth.
Set to face the Golden State Warriors in a title rematch, Cleveland must maximize its best qualities, while improving and rediscovering some previously effective methods.
A Mixed Offensive Identity
The Cavaliers are registering an offensive rating of 116.2 this postseason, tops among all NBA teams. Dominant performances from within the paint and outside the three-point line prove they can bury you in a variety of ways.
There's no true blueprint for what they do offensively, either.
They don't fly up and down the court or shoot three-pointers at a Warriors level (at least not yet). Cleveland also doesn't consciously slow the pace down and try to work for buckets in the half court.
Despite leading all playoff teams in three-point makes (14.4), attempts (33.2) and percentage (43.4), the Cavaliers have set out to consistently sustain their spectacular outside shooting. Following a whopping 19.3 made three-pointers on 50.7 percent shooting against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Cleveland fell back to earth with 11.3 outside makes on 38.9 percent against the Toronto Raptors.
"As I keep telling you guys every single day, we're not a jump-shooting team," LeBron James said following Game 1 against Toronto. "You guys kept looking at me crazy about it. We’re not a jump-shooting team. We're a balanced team, and whatever the game dictates, we adjust to that."
Despite his claim, the numbers say Cleveland has been anything but balanced this postseason. While they lead the NBA in nearly every three-point category, the Cavs are scoring just 32.7 percent of their points in the paint—a figure that would have ranked dead last during the regular season.
For a team that features a strong post presence like Kevin Love, combined with the attacking ability of James and Kyrie Irving, the Cavaliers could be far more aggressive in establishing their interior offense. Cleveland ranks last among all playoff teams in drives per game (23.1), resulting in just 1.6 assists.
Change in Philosophy
When head coach Tyronn Lue took over for David Blatt on Jan. 23, he preached a faster offense to push transition first and then kick out to shooters.
Cleveland's offense jumped noticeably since Lue took over and has risen to even greater heights in these playoffs thanks primarily to some hot outside shooting.
"I think we always want to play inside-out, and when Kyrie and LeBron and Kevin...those guys are attacking the basket, it opens up the three-point shot for us because guys are helping," Lue said.
"We just take what the defense gives us. If they open up the paint, we are going to drive and attack the basket. If not, then we’ve got to be able to step up and knock down the threes."
The numbers appear shiny, but what about that pace Lue wanted?
This postseason, the Cavaliers are averaging just 91.83 possessions per 48 minutes—a mark that would have ranked last overall in the regular season. For comparison, the Golden State Warriors play the fastest brand of basketball, with 102.42 possessions.
"We want to push the tempo; we want to move the ball from side to side and attack," James said.
Cleveland has talked the talk, but it continues to (slowly) walk.
Ways to Improve
So how does a No. 1-ranked offense get better?
It starts with pace and working to get out in transition. Cleveland is scoring 1.25 points per possession in the open court—a slight increase from its regular-season rating of 1.20. These marks are both good for second in the NBA. Despite shooting a strong 57.3 percent from the floor in transition, just 13.8 percent of their total points come in this manner.
Scoring more in transition can happen one of two ways. First, it's up to the ball-handler; be it James, Irving or Matthew Dellavedova to push the ball as soon as he gains possession.
"I’m always on Kyrie about staying aggressive, being aggressive because guys can’t guard him one-on-one," Lue said. "Especially in transition, if we can get out fast and get out early to him, he can attack early to the basket and LeBron the same way."
Secondly, transition offense always stems from good defense, something the Cavaliers have struggled with at times this postseason.
Opponents are shooting 45.1 percent from the floor and 34.0 percent from deep against Cleveland in the playoffs—marks that aren't awful but could easily improve. According to NBA.com's new hustle stats, the Cavaliers are only contesting 57.1 of 78.1 shots per game, or 73.1 percent of opponents' attempts.
With the exception of bad losses in Games 3 and 4 in Toronto, the Cavs have appeared much more locked in defensively compared to the regular season. Of course, the Warriors are far more potent than anything they've faced in the East to this point.
Just by contesting, altering or even blocking more open looks, Cleveland will force more misses, therefore allowing for more opportunities in transition.
Another option would be to bring back the alley-oop. For the first half of the season, the Cavs looked like Lob City 2.0, running 75 alley-oop plays (1.8 per game) under Blatt at a success rate of 1.73 points per play, per B/R Insights. Since Lue took over, the conversion is similar (1.72 points per play), but the frequency has been nearly cut in half (just 1.1 attempts per game).
Irving and Dellavedova are great lobbers, with Tristan Thompson being the primary roll player looking to seal the deal. Of course, James can fill either role.
The Cavs need to maximize their strengths. Pushing the ball, defending and looking to be aggressive with the lob will allow them to do just that.
Greg Swartz is the Cleveland Cavaliers Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @CavsGregBR.
All quotes obtained firsthand. Stats via Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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