Cleveland Cavaliers: Keys to victory over Indiana Pacers

Watch the midrange

More and more teams in the NBA are turning down mid-range shots these days. Players still take them, and when they are in the flow of an offense, there’s nothing wrong with taking what an opposing defense gives you. The best scorers in the league will still can those jumpers, but they don’t generally take them with as much regularity as they used to, say a decade ago (cue the Kobe Bryant baseline turnaround fadeaway).

That being said, this Indiana team will take those shots early in the shot-clock, and often throughout all stretch of games. That’s a lost art in this era of basketball.

This year, the Pacers have attempted the second-most mid-range shots in the league, and only the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets (the two best offenses in the league) have shot a higher percentage, per nba.com. So, when Jeff Green, Smith, Nance and others are defending against high screens for Oladipo, Darren Collison and Joseph deployed by Indiana, they have to be ready to contest that early-clock long two. Many opponents will pass that up until it’s the only realistic option at the end of a possession, but the Pacers will take those all game long from middle PnR.

In addition to the pull-up two’s by the guards, Indiana will hit on spot-ups by Myles Turner, Thaddeus Young, and Bojan Bogdanovic when defenses help in those scenarios. Collison will, too, and he’s a man the Cavs must find at all times, as he has been a model of efficiency as both an open shooter and sound playmaker this year.

So the rotations after the help comes must be ready to contest when guarding the other wings, as Indy is not a team that is predicated as much on drives to the rim outside of Oladipo in transition, as they were in the bottom ten of drives per game, according to Second Spectrum.

Only four teams have attempted fewer threes per game than the Pacers this season. I would be more willing to make their supporting cast beat the Cavaliers for long stretches from deep, as they do not have many players that are willing to take a high volume of three-point shots.

In addition, with the Cavs conceding those jumpers long-term in this series, it will allow Kevin Love, LeBron, Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. to prevent second-chance opportunities for Domantas Sabonis, Young and others, which is essential.

On the offensive end of the floor, the Cavs must limit turnovers and be patient with their ultimate cheat code in James running the show.