The Cavs are a tale of two halves

The first round series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers is now tied at two games apiece.

This first round has been something else for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers started off game one by getting smacked in the mouth by 18 points. After a 46-point avalanche from LeBron James, the Cavs managed to tie the series at 1-1. Then, the next two games were wildly unpredictable. In both games, the Cavaliers led by 15 or more points, and in both games, the Cavaliers blew that lead.

Thankfully, Cleveland was able to close out Game 4 and avoided going down 3-1 in the series.

The team will now play game five at home. This game will be huge in determining who will be the winner. The Cavaliers certainly have the momentum now that they tied the series and will be playing in front of their home crowd.

But, there is a glaring issue the Cavs must resolve before they can put a death grip on this series.

Before we discuss the biggest issue, let’s talk about some of the smaller issues.

The first problem is the fact that LeBron James has been doing everything himself. James is responsible for over 35% of the team’s total points, rebounds, and assists.

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Furthermore, James is averaging nearly triple the number of points than the next man up. James is currently putting up 32.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists while shooting 54.1 percent from the floor. James leads the team in every category except for steals.

The most troubling statistic is the fact that James is playing 43 minutes per game.

This is not sustainable for James.

The team needs to find a way to get James some rest if they want any future in the playoffs. James may be able to drag the Cavaliers through round one, but they can not count on him to be Superman forever.

Now for the biggest problem. No, it isn’t their defense. It isn’t the poor play from Kevin Love and Jeff Green. The Cleveland Cavaliers biggest problem is their offensive decisions in the second half. The team appears to be a completely different team after halftime. The first half usually consists of ball movement and clean offensive sets.

However, this offensive strategy is thrown away during the second time. The Cavaliers resort to isolation ball and many times don’t even run a play. They simply dribble to halfcourt and clear the floor.

This is why the team has been garnering huge leads in the first half of this series and then blowing it in the third and fourth quarters. The team also begins to turn the ball over at a higher rate during the second half. This is a direct consequence of isolation basketball. There is no movement on offense, resulting in the poor shot selection and unforced errors.

Playing isolation ball has always been apart of the Cavaliers gameplan. In recent years, the team would defer the ball to Kyrie Irving in crucial moments of the game.

Now, the team is relying heavily on players who couldn’t even dream of having the same offensive skill set as Irving. Before the team can succeed, they need to understand their personnel.

The Cavs have outscored the Pacers 213-191 (22 points) in the first half. On the flip side, the Pacers have outscored Cleveland 186-162 (24 points) in the second half.

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Therefore, if the Cavaliers can find a way to keep the train on the tracks after halftime, the team should advance to round two easily.