Cleveland Cavaliers: Three reasons they lost to the Pacers

Reason #3 – Too much isolation

After the first quarter on Friday, the Cavaliers did not have the ball popping around as they did against the Chicago Bulls in their last game.

There was simply too much isolation on the offensive end.

Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton aren’t exactly known as distributors, although Clarkson appears to have picked that aspect of his game up this season and he even led the team Friday with five assists, per ESPN.com.

Sexton and rookie Darius Garland, who had a miserable game (0-for-10 shooting), need to be better about moving the basketball and running the offense. Sexton has been excellent again this season scoring the basketball where’s he’s creating for himself seemingly off-script or from minimal man and ball movement, but it’s hard for teams to consistently win in the NBA where that’s the case.

In the second quarter, the Cavs seemed to strictly go to a high pick-and-roll. That made it very easy for the Pacers to defend as the three other guys on the floor were standing around the three-point line.

It’s been evident through five games that the Cavaliers’ offense runs the best with Love initiating the offense, even using him as the primary passer. The Cavaliers beat the Pacers in their first contest by putting the two big men in tough situations with Love and Tristan Thompson on the same side of the floor. They need to get back to that type of offense as it is very tough for opposing big men to keep up with Love and Thompson.

The best thing about Friday and these issues is that they are fixable by the coaching staff. They are not physical limitations or a lack of effort. The Cavaliers’ roster is full of great athletes and guys who play very hard. This team should be very competitive all season long based on the first five games, especially if the coaching staff can work on the specific issues from Friday’s game.