King James Gospel
Fansided

Cavs vs. Raptors Game 4: What We Learned

By Jackson Flickinger

May 7, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) celebrates with Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) after the second round of game four of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports
May 7, 2017; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson (13) celebrates with Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) after the second round of game four of the 2017 NBA Playoffs against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Jan 13, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Kyle Korver (26) during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. The Cavaliers defeated the Kings 120-108. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 13, 2017; Sacramento, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Kyle Korver (26) during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. The Cavaliers defeated the Kings 120-108. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports /

3. The Cavs have too many weapons

Kevin Love, J.R. Smith, and Irving finished a combined 4 of 16 from 3. Those aren’t numbers you’ll usually see from those three marksmen. But with the Cavs’ plethora of shooters, it didn’t really matter.

Channing Frye and Kyle Korver caught fire from behind the arc in the second half. They combined for 28 points and were 6 of 9 from deep.

The Cavs should always have ways to get open shots with the ability of Kyrie and LeBron to get to the basket. When a team has as many three-point shooters as the Cavs do, the odds are one of them will catch fire.

The Cavs also have the ability to run lineups that have at least two outstanding spot-up shooters at every moment of the game. Korver, Smith, Love, and Frye are all deadly spot-up shooters. Cleveland played all but two and a half minutes without a lineup that featured two of these four shooters.

The ability to have two of those shooters on the floor at all times creates wide driving lanes for Kyrie and LeBron. It’s also one of the reasons why we’ve rarely seen double-teams on Kyrie or LeBron.

Cleveland’s offense has a variety of ways to beat an opponent. Deadly three-point shooting is by far the most effective right now.