King James Gospel
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Cleveland Cavaliers: Evaluating their team halfway through the season

By Hasan

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 8: Cleveland Cavaliers during the national anthem before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 8, 2018 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MN - JANUARY 8: Cleveland Cavaliers during the national anthem before the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on January 8, 2018 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Jordan Johnson/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – DECEMBER 30: JR Smith #5 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks to the officials during the first half against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on December 30, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – DECEMBER 30: JR Smith #5 of the Cleveland Cavaliers looks to the officials during the first half against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on December 30, 2017 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /

The Starters

After the blockbuster trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Celtics and brought Isaiah Thomas to the Cavaliers, the starting lineup looks remarkably different.

With Isaiah Thomas out for most of the first half of the season, there hasn’t been much time to evaluate the strength of the Cavaliers’ best possible starting five.

The Cavaliers have already seen 12 different starters this season but the most common starting five so far have been LeBron James, Kevin Love, Jae Crowder, J.R. Smith and Jose Calderon. So far, 10 of the players on the team are playing more than 20 minutes per game, showing the trust that Tyronn Lue has in a large number of players on the roster.

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LeBron has been putting up 27.1 points, 8.1 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks a game. All of these and his FG% and 3P% are an improvement from last year at this same point in time. With the point guard position facing various injuries and problems, LeBron has shouldered a lot of the burden. He’s shown once again that he is still the best player in the league.

Kevin Love has also had to step up with his switch to the center role. Love was averaging a solid 19.9 points and 11 boards after 41 games last season and is doing equally well to start off this season but with a much better efficiency. He’s shooting 45.9% from the field and an impressive 41% from three-point territory.

J.R. Smith, however, hasn’t been very impressive. He’s continued in a similar vein to how he started off the previous season. In the 21 games he played last season before his injury he was shooting 33.7% from the field and 36.2% from behind the arc. This season he’s been shooting 37.3% from the field and just 35.2% on his three-point attempts. What is more worrying, perhaps, is how much of a liability he has also become on defense.

Jae Crowder has also not been as effective as many fans would have anticipated, shooting a paltry 30.3% from three. Jose Calderon has done well enough and Derrick Rose showed some promise but the sizeable gap left by the departure of Kyrie and the wait for Isaiah’s return needed to be filled somewhere. That’s where the bench has helped a lot this season.