Improving pace is THE key to unlocking the Cavs offense

Playing fast is going to be the best way for the Cleveland Cavaliers to score points against the stingy Indiana Pacers defense.

The Cleveland Cavaliers offense has looked like anything but its normal self with shooters struggling to knock down their outside jumpers and center Kevin Love’s inability to post-up smaller players, leading to an offense that lives and dies with LeBron James.

Such a model is entertaining, perhaps, for the legions of LeBron fans that get to see him play the role of Michael Jordan, scoring nonstop as he imposes his will on the defense.

Nonetheless, it’s not a winning formula against the true powerhouse teams of the NBA, unless the Cavaliers continue to play impressive defense perhaps — something harder to do when there are multiple All-Stars on the opposing team.

The Cleveland Cavaliers will need more from every player on the roster — as only three-point specialists J.R. Smith and Kyle Korver have shown up to play. However, there’s one factor that could determine their offensive success more than any other in this series.

Their pace.

The Cavs are currently playing at a pace of 93.5, tied for dead-last in playoffs (with Indiana).

Attacking before halfcourt defense is set

The Indiana Pacers have the 5th-ranked defense in the NBA playoffs (sorted by defensive efficiency) and it’s in part because they have great individual defenders and in part because of their coaching.

Choosing to clamp down on the paint with a “drop” defense, the Pacers are better at stopping the Cavs inside than they are at closing out on the perimeter.

Unfortunately, there isn’t enough ball or player movement to force the Pacers defense into constant mistakes and instead, the offense has been set up with four three-point specialists to provide LeBron James with maximum spacing for drives.

While James had certainly been exceptional in this type of lineup (averaging 37.5 points per game on 57.6 percent shooting from the field — 64.8 percent from two-point range), it’s simply a lot easier to score against the athleticism, strength and physicality of the Pacers defense if they don’t have time to make the switches they want or if their top rim-protector in Myles Turner can’t impact the play.

Kevin Love the Trailer

Considering that the Pacers want to protect the paint, one player above all others could get the help he needs offensively if the Cavaliers play faster.: Kevin Love.

Love, who has been overpowered on the interior and pushed off his spots behind the line, could find plenty of success if he acts as a trailer on the fastbreak.

He’s averaging 11.8 points per game on 32.8 percent shooting from the field this postseason after averaging 17.6 points per game on 45.8 percent shooting.

The one carryover has been his three-point shooting, as he’s knocking down 39.1 percent of his triples in the series and made 41.5 percent of them in the regular season. While simple drive-and-kicks or swing passes will certainly find Love at the receiving end of them, Love has looked much more comfortable releasing his shot when he has space.

After improving his shooting range during his injury rehab, Love made 52.5 percent of his threes from 25-29 feet away from his mid-March return til the end of the season.. In that same time frame, Love made 50.0 percent of his threes above the break.

Of course, this requires the Cavaliers to create a few turnovers for transition opportunities but with 7.2 steals per game in the postseason (11th out of 16 teams), they’ll have to be efficient with their fastbreak opportunities.

The Cavaliers only average 9.8 fastbreak points per game (tied for 13th out of 16 teams) and this is definitely an area where Love can help.

With his three-point stroke the most consistent part of his game since he returned (41.4 percent shooting from two-point range after the All-Star Break and  50.7 percent shooting from two-point range prior to the All-Star Break), those turnovers will be necessary in Love’s ability to increase his scoring average.

Love is taking 4.6 three-point attempts per game in the postseason after taking 5.6 three-point attempts per game in the regular season.

Aggressive play from the rest of the Cavs

Playing fast for the new Cavs doesn’t just mean constantly attacking the teeth of the defense by going downhill, though that’s going to be a major key in them establishing rhythm and confidence in the series.

For George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood and Larry Nance Jr., playing fast means playing instinctually, letting their experience and knowledge of the game envelope their anxieties and apprehensions.

For Clarkson and Nance Jr., this is their first taste of the playoffs. For Hood, it’s a chance to build off the experience he received with the Utah Jazz in last season’s playoffs.

Hill has a wealth of playoff experience, so his lack of assertiveness on offense isn’t caused by anxiety but uncertainty. Hill, who is still unsure of his role, would make a world of difference by just being aggressive.

The same holds true for Jose Calderon, Jeff Green and Cedi Osman whenever they make an appearance.

Essentially, for these players, the role players — playing hard is going to free up James to be the primary playmaker and make everyone’s job easier.

It’s also a lot easier to stay even-keeled if you’re giving maximum effort but not hitting shots, which is all of a sudden a problem for the Cavaliers.

Related Story: LeBron and Korver, the new 1-2 punch for Cleveland