Cleveland Cavaliers: What we learned vs. the Indiana Pacers in Game 3

The offense is the Cavs’ biggest weakness right now.

The offense has been horrible this series outside of LeBron. The lack of three-point shooting is what is hurting the Cavs this series. They went just 10 of 32 (31.3%) from distance. If you take LeBron and Love out of the equation the Cavs were just 3 for 17 (17.6%) from three. Those numbers aren’t going to cut it in the playoffs.

The Cavs have designed their roster to beat teams with their three-point shooting. The starting lineup reflects this as they have four pure three-point shooters out there with LeBron. However, they aren’t able to take advantage of that if they aren’t hitting shots.

The Pacers defense is partly responsible for this. They have athletic guards who do a great job of running shooters off the line. But, they haven’t really been great on defending threes this season.

Indiana’s opponents took 36.0% of their attempted field goals from three. This is tied for fifth highest in the league. Opponents shot 36.2% on those threes which is about league average. The best way to defend threes is by not allowing your opponent to shoot them, which is exactly where Indiana has struggled this season.

The Pacers finished the season with the 14th-ranked defense in the league because of their ability to shut teams down inside which is exactly what they’re doing against the Cavs this series. Cleveland hasn’t been able to counter because of their poor three-point shooting. They are now shooting 30.9% from distance this series which is 6.3% lower than their season average of 37.2%.

The Cavs have relied heavily on their three-point shooting the last three years, but more so this year. The lack of a reliable second or third option, like Kyrie Irving, has left them vulnerable to offensive games like this when the three ball isn’t falling.

The numbers say that the Cavs’ offense should break out of this, but the series could be over before they do.