Without key bigs, the Cavs have no chance playing at a slow pace

As we’ve often demonstrated, the Cleveland Cavaliers have a number of injuries right now. Without key bodies in the frontcourt active in recent contests, it’s been proven that they have to speed things up.

The NBA season is long for every team, and that’s going to result in everybody having their share of injuries. The Cleveland Cavaliers have been no exception when it comes to that injury bug, and in the last few weeks in particular, they’ve really struggled without key bigs in the lineup. Without Tristan Thompson, Kevin Love and others, Cleveland isn’t going to have much of a chance if they are bogged down in a slow-paced game.

As our own Eli Mooneyham touched on, the Cavs’ offense was “ice-cold” against the Memphis Grizzlies in a 95-87 loss Wednesday night, and Cleveland’s offensive struggles continued Friday night against the Miami Heat in a 118-94 loss. In the last two games, Cleveland has only shot 35.5 percent and 38.3 percent, per ESPN.

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Now, some of that is the injuries. Not having Thompson’s offensive rebounding, especially when being in a slower-paced contest, limits the Cavs’ possessions and creates less scrambling defenses and less open corner three-point shots.

Even when the Cavs are getting open catch-and-shoot opportunities in these slower-paced games, they aren’t hitting efficiently.

Cedi Osman, Jaron Blossomgame, Collin Sexton and at times Channing Frye look unsure of themselves on the perimeter, and that’s a result of opponents being active in passing lanes and smothering Cleveland’s slashing threats.

Love is the Cavs’ best overall player, as he spaces the floor with his range to create more opportunity for penetration, is a solid secondary playmaker, and will warrant free throw chances.

On the bright side, Larry Nance Jr. has been very effective as a facilitator in Love and/or Thompson’s absence, and he’s been very good overall on both ends in an expanded role. This kind of thing from Nance is essential for the Cavs to be competitive shorthanded.

Nonetheless, the rest of the players around him aren’t as comfortable in a bogged-down style; Osman has had problems with turnovers and often looks out of rhythm with limited spacing, and Sexton has had problems getting considerable separation without Thompson’s screens creating clear mismatches for him.

With the Cleveland Cavaliers being without Rodney Hood, who is currently sidelined with reported Achilles soreness, and David Nwaba, due to reported ankle issues, it’s been difficult to matchup on the wing on both ends.

Hood is one of Cleveland’s best playmakers, and is averaging 12.9 points and 2.1 assists per game. Nwaba’s toughness and IQ on the defensive end of the floor, in addition to his cutting offensively, are also a big loss for the Cavs in games where every possession means more and more.

On the bright side, it was encouraging to hear that Thompson could be nearing his return to the floor, considering he did practice on Thursday, per The Athletic’s Joe Vardon.

He didn’t play against the Heat, no, but his return being on the horizon should provide a bit of a lift for the locker room in coming games. The Cavs do not have the horses both offensively and defensively right now to be able to be effective in halfcourt-oriented games against teams like Memphis and Miami, who specialize in that sort of style and are both elite in defending the paint with their rim protection.

If the Cleveland Cavaliers can get the ball hopping earlier in the shot clock, and get players such as Jordan Clarkson, Matthew Dellavedova (who is shooting 47.1 percent with the Cavs from three, per NBA.com), and Osman open catch-and-shoot looks, it’ll uncork more offense and free throw chances from penetration inside the arc.

Even in late-clock scenarios, Delly can splash. That’s not the formula, though. The ball movement is the key, however.

https://twitter.com/cavs/status/1078849730480721921

The Cavaliers are not going to hold down opposing offenses, regardless of how the pace is in games, as Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor highlighted after the Grizzlies game (these statistics were prior to the yesterday, obviously).

Fedor prefaced this by detailing how the Grizzlies are effective in the fast-paced modern NBA, because they are so good defensively and are good enough in halfcourt offense to make up for their limited possessions.

"“The Cavs? Well, they rank dead last in defensive rating. They don’t gain any schematic advantage slowing the game down. If anything, it makes them worse.Through 35 games, the Cavs have taken 925 shots in nine seconds or less. They are shooting 49.8 percent from the field on those looks. Inside 15 seconds, Cleveland is shooting 42.0 percent. Most of their attempts come between seven and 15 ticks, which is average in the NBA. But they are only shooting 43.9 percent on those tries.”"

Obviously, the narrative is clear. With the Cavs’ inability to stop opponents, they have to get better offensive opportunities. That’ll come from getting out more and running to the rim and to the corner in transition, and potentially picking opposing primary ball-handlers up in the backcourt defensively, which can cause opponents to speed up and possibly create turnovers.

We’ll see if they can start to get more easy opportunities tonight against the Atlanta Hawks.