Cleveland Cavaliers: What we learned vs. Boston Celtics

The three-ball isn’t the priority it once was.

 The Cavs attempted just 22 three-pointers on Tuesday night. To put that in comparison, the Cavs attempted 34 threes per game last season. Attempting just 22 in a game isn’t going to get it done against high scoring offenses. There are many reasons why this could be unusually low. For one, the team is trying to adjust to completely new personnel.

Another reason why could be the Celtics’ lack of size. The Cavs had an easy time getting to the basket against Boston. However, the point remains that the Cavs can’t beat the best teams out West by shooting only 22 threes a game.

Rose and Wade weren’t good on the floor together. 

Much has been made about the similarities of Rose and Wade’s playing styles. Their similar skill-sets appear to make them a bad fit on the court together. It’s a very small sample size, but Tuesday night showed that to be true. These two shouldn’t be on the court at the same time. The Cavs were a -5 in the nearly 17 minutes they played together. Cleveland shot 41.4% from the field during this stretch with an offensive rating of 98.9 and a defensive rating of 113.3.

It’s also worth noting that Cleveland played some of it’s best basketball in the eight minutes Wade and J.R. Smith played great together. The team shot 46.2% from the field and was a +7 during that stretch. Rose and Wade aren’t the players they once were, but they can be good if they are on the court with the right players.

At this time, it seems they would be better served not sharing the floor.