Everything is finally clicking for the Cleveland Cavaliers
The Cleveland Cavaliers are reaching their stride at the perfect time.
After a phenomenal Game 4, the Cleveland Cavaliers have turned their season upside down, sweeping the Toronto Raptors in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
From being annihilated in Game 6 against the Indiana Pacers to doing the annihilating in Game 4, the Cavs have started playing their best basketball of the season, and they’re doing so at the best possible time.
They’re doing this by playing as a team.
While their leader, LeBron James, is still putting up legendary numbers, the rest of the team has started making open shots, and it’s made all the difference in the world. Along with forcing Kevin Love to be aggressive, this team has been a ghost of its first-round self.
One clear way we can see the dynamic change made between the two series is through assists. The Cavs averaged four fewer assists per game than the Indiana Pacers, a reflection of how inconsistent the Cavs ball movement was.
That script was flipped in the second round when they averaged four more assists per game than the Toronto Raptors.
The second way the Cavs flipped the script is simply through the number of double-figure scorers they had.
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Over the last four games, six Cavaliers averaged double-figures. The starters and then Jeff Green all were able to hit the mark, and all six of them did so efficiently. In their second-round series, Kevin Love, who shot 47.5%, was the only rotational player not to hit over 50% of his shots.
Love’s excellence was just one of several surprises the Cavaliers had in store.
The other one was JR Smith.
If you would’ve told any fan or analyst that the Cavaliers would make a clean sweep of the Raptors AND that JR Smith would’ve shot over 75% from downtown in the four games, they would’ve bet $1,000 against you.
Smith and Love have been inconsistent all season, so it was no shocker to see Kyle Korver, the most consistent Cavalier outside of LeBron James, be one of the few Cavs first-round saviors. However, these two wouldn’t stay cold forever.
This spin of events was bound to happen.
Every rotational player outside of LeBron James stepped up in this second-round series. Whether it was through shooting, defending, playmaking, or just being able to grind it out in some of the Cavs smaller-sized lineups, each player did some part in making this possible.
In the end, a couple of the few aspects of the Cavaliers that decreased in their second-round series actually centered around LeBron James. James shot just 16% from three in the second round and just 57.6% from the line. Those declines were just a few of the negatives of the Cavs second-round series.
Now, imagine this series if James connected from both deep and the charity stripe. Game. Over.
Next: This is the best LeBron James we’ve ever seen
Just like Love turned it around, James will start to shoot better, and whether it’s the Celtics or 76ers, some team might see the full wrath a healthy, rested, and clicking Cavaliers squad.