Cavs: Collin Sexton’s been cold from 3, but has been getting it done in other ways

Collin Sexton hasn’t been lighting it up from three-point land recently for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but the rest of his game has been much more efficient during his three-point cold streak. Over his last seven games active, Sexton is averaging 22.9 points on 49.2 percent shooting while also having 3.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per outing.

Sexton’s shooting inside the three-point line recently has been very impressive as he is shooting 58.3 percent on two-point field goal attempts over his last 7 games, as well as 88.0 percent from the free throw line, both up from his season average.

He has done a great job at getting to the line more frequently, which has made up for his lack of deep scoring in recent games.

As an aside, Sexton was not in the Cavs’ last game in a close loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday due to a left groin strain, but considering that was the second leg of a back-to-back and it was more so a close call, it wouldn’t appear too hampering. The same would appear to be the case for Darius Garland, who missed Sunday’s outing because of a right ankle sprain, but that doesn’t seem necessarily too serious.

Sexton has been getting it done in other ways for the Cavs, despite the deep shooting cold spell.

When Sexton’s been in there, which has mostly been the case, his driving to the basket has been stronger and he’s been able to hit cutting lanes more often while not having to run the offense when Garland is on the bench, a big reason having Matthew Dellavedova back has been vital for the Cavaliers. That’s in relation to Cedi Osman, albeit to a lesser playmaking extent, too.

Another potential reason Sexton’s inside-the-arc numbers have gone up is due to the fact that the Cavs have been getting out in transition more as of late and that has benefited Collin. That’s been allowing him to get all the way to the basket instead of having to rely on a floater or mid-range jump shot.

His ability to break down a defense and get down low will often come with more free throw attempts, and if he continues to shoot them at this percent, it could lead to more wins for Cleveland down the final stretch of the season. This is in hoping Sexton’s injury that kept him out on Sunday isn’t too serious, to drive that point home, though.

It would be intriguing to see Collin put it all together at the same time because his numbers over the last handful of games would be off the charts if he was knocking down his threes like he normally had been doing so. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always happen that way but based off of his work ethic and drive to be better it wouldn’t be crazy to think that’s what he is focusing on the most right now individually.

Although he is 3-of-27 in the last 7 games from deep, this slump shouldn’t urge him to stop shooting the three ball, assuming he will eventually get it rolling again.

Sexton has seemingly shooting more triples originally coming off of more movement lately as well, but he’s shown he can knock those looks down previously, albeit overall, the deep balls via catch-and-shoots/pull-ups should start falling.

From there, the defensive work from Sexton as of late has also been a positive for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sexton’s defense has been generating fastbreak opportunities for the Cavs.

Collin’s defense has been something that has stood out during this stretch, making an impact on and off the ball. Over the last seven games Sexton is averaging an impressive 1.6 steals per game, including a stretch of having two or more steals in four straight games. This is allowing the Cavs to get out in transition for fastbreak points which comes in handy for a team that’s not a high scoring half court offense.

Defense is something that needs to be a focus for Sexton in the future if the Cavaliers are going to continue to start Darius Garland and Sexton, as it is not the simplest thing defensively to have two 6-foot-1 guards in the same lineup for considerable stretches.

It’s obvious that he is benefiting from the spacing of the Cavaliers’ current lineup with Dean Wade and Kevin Love both starting.

With Jarrett Allen currently out with a concussion, having both Love and Wade on the floor at the same time frees up the paint, and Sexton has done a great job taking advantage of that. Granted, Allen should seemingly be back soon, though, but the lineups with Love and Wade have aided Collin as a driver, for what it’s worth.

He is often able to blow by his defender and either have a layup or kick it out to the open shooter and that can cause problems for opposing defenses when that Love-Wade burn happens. Although, the Cavs are definitely missing Allen on defense, having problems protecting the rim while Allen has been out.

However, Collin Sexton has shown in this recent stretch that even if his three-point shot isn’t falling, he can still get it done from everywhere else on the court.

And that’s very important for him to have a game-to-game impact as an all-around scorer.