The Cleveland Cavaliers biggest problem in the postseason has been their inability to hit open — or wide open — shots.
While there have been a myriad of think pieces attempting to provide a “How To” manual on unearthing the long-lost dominance of the Cleveland Cavaliers — the type of dominance that makes you say “Oh, these guys are definitely returning to the NBA Finals.”
Yet, the biggest issue for the Cavs right now doesn’t have anything to do with the “x’s and o’s” (Tyronn Lue). The most glaring problem that the Cavaliers currently face is an inability to hit their open shots.
Through the first three games of the series, the Cavs are making just 31.9 percent of their “open” threes (no defenders within 4-6 feet of the shooter). They made 34.1 percent of these attempts in the regular season.
15.0 percent of their three-point attempts in the regular season were open.
21.6 percent of their three-point attempts have been open in the postseason.
They’ve made 34.3 percent of their “wide open” threes (no defenders within 6 feet of the shooter). They made 42.3 percent of their wide open threes in the regular season.
18.7 percent of their three-point attempts in the regular season were wide open.
16.1 percent of their three-point attempts have been open in the postseason.
Looking down the list of Cavs players, only two players are shooting above 34.0 percent from three-point range in LeBron James (37.5 percent) and Kevin Love (47.1 percent).
James has also made 45.5 percent of his open threes (3.7 attempts per game) and 33.3 percent of his wide open threes (1.0 attempt per game).
Love does need to shore up his shooting on open threes, as he’s only making 16.7 percent of those (2.0 attempts per game) but he’s making 66.7 percent of his wide open threes (3.0 attempts per game).
While James has continued his shooting from the regular season and Love’s touch from outside has been nearly impeccable, two of the most disappointing shooters thus far in the postseason have been two of their best shooters since becoming Cavs.
Kyle Korver (30.8 percent) and J.R. Smith (31.3 percent) have three-point percentages in the postseason that don’t come near to matching their output in the regular season.
Furthermore, while Korver is shooting 40.0 percent on open three-point shots (1.7 attempts per game), he’s shooting 33.3 percent on wide open three-point attempts (2.0 attempts per game). Smith is shooting 25.0 percent on open three-point attempts (2.7 attempts per game) and 33.3 percent on wide open three-point attempts (2.0 attempts per game).
In 2017-2018, Korver shot 43.6 percent from three-point range and Smith shot 37.5 percent from three-point range.
Korver shot 44.5 percent on open three-point attempts (2.1 attempts per game) and 50.0 percent on wide open three-point attempts (1.7 attempts per game). Smith shot 41.3 percent on open thee-point attempts (2.0 attempts per game) and 37.5 percent on wide open three-point attempts (1.7 attempts per game) in the regular season.
Korver and Smith have failed to live up to expectations but so to have players like Rodney Hood and George Hill, who are a combined 4-15 from three-point range in the postseason.
Hood, while shooting 47.6 percent from the field in the postseason, has shot just 22.2 percent from three-point range after making 38.1 percent of his threes in the regular season.
Hood is only making 16.7 percent of his open threes (2.0 attempts per game) and 33.3 percent of his wide open threes (1.0 attempt per game) in the playoffs after having made 31.9 percent of his open threes (2.3 attempts per game) and 42.7 percent of his wide open threes (2.2 attempts per game) in the regular season.
Hill is shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range in the postseason after shooting 41.5 percent from three-point range in the regular season. Hill has converted 66.7 percent of his open threes (1.0 attempt per game) but has yet to make a wide open three (0.7 attempts per game).
With Jordan Clarkson (35.2 percent from three in the regular season) and Jeff Green (31.2 percent from three in the regular season) a combined 1-11 from three-point range in the playoffs, making shots that they should make is the biggest part of the Cavaliers’ issues.
Clearly, if poor three-point shooting is the biggest issue, then players like Green shouldn’t be posted up in the corner for large segments of the game. That’s something that’s on Lue.
However, even if Green wasn’t 1-7, the Cavaliers would have a better chance of winning if Korver, Smith, Hood and Hill in particular were to improve their shot-making from outside.
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*All stats gathered from stats.nba.com and www.basketball-reference.com