The Cleveland Cavaliers might want to use the paint more

With how the Cleveland Cavaliers are built, they are going to shoot the ball from deep. To that point, they do it well! They might want a bit more balance for the playoffs, though.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are just fine at 28-10, and still are first in the Eastern Conference. They’ve dropped the last two games to quality teams in the Utah Jazz and Portland Trailblazers during a back-to-back. It’s not a big deal.

What is a little frustrating when you watch this team is the way they’ve lost the last two, and a few other games earlier in the season they probably should have won. The Cavs are 29th in the NBA in paint points per game, barely above the awful Dallas Mavericks.

They are a team that is stacked with shooters; the recent addition of Kyle Korver can’t hurt the offensive firepower. When shooters are slumping, though, as they have been recently, you need to take the ball to the rim.

In the last three games, the Cavs have been outscored 152-110 in the paint. This is nothing to overreact to, as the Cavs have only been outscored in that area by five points on average this season. The last two games were against teams in the bottom ten of the league in paint points, though. You can see Portland consistently get to the paint in these highlights:

That said, it would be more encouraging to see players like Iman Shumpert and Kevin Love make more of an effort to get to the free throw line. Shump is a player who has knockdown ability at the mid-range, and he’s a great slasher to the rim. As a 78.4 percent free throw shooter, it only strengthens the argument more for Shump to use that athleticism inside.

Moreover, the Cavs need to feed the post more often. They are seventh in the league in points per possession when feeding the post, and Love is making 88.3 percent of his free-throws.

They need to be more patient with his post-ups.

The other part of the equation in the last few games has been turnovers. The Cavs have had more turnovers than assists in these last three contests, and many of those were forced passes to get three-point looks. When you see LeBron slow a transition drive to throw a pass out to DeAndre Liggins and it gets picked off, it’s a little frustrating.

It’s not that the Cavs aren’t effective in getting open shots, as they have had the looks. You would just like to see more balance going forward into the playoffs. I trust they’ll get it corrected when they get more practice time. They’re still getting the rotation figured out as well.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are shooting threes at a breakneck pace this season. Do you think they should be using the paint more as well? Let us know in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.