Cleveland Cavaliers: Struggles from 3 could be behind Collin Sexton

There was a while there where Collin Sexton was having his share of issues from beyond the three-point line for the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the month of March, Sexton had hit only 33.9 percent of his three-point attempts, of which were a volume of 5.6 deep ball attempts per outing.

Sexton just appeared to be in a funk in that regard, and last month, had two outings where he hit just one deep ball, and two outings where he had a goose egg from downtown.

In fairness, Sexton did miss two outings in late March due to a hamstring injury. So having been banged up probably had a bit to do with that, as Sexton not nearly having his typical explosiveness didn’t aid him.

Collin in that aforementioned span and in earlier outings this month, too, didn’t seem to be in his typical rhythm as a catch-and-shoot three-point threat either, though.

Nonetheless, Sexton did end up missing Cleveland’s recent games on April 11 versus the New Orleans Pelicans and at the Charlotte Hornets on April 14 because of a left groin strain, which could’ve played a bit into lack of efficiency earlier this month.

Granted, the inefficiency in large part post-All-Star break for Sexton from deep was puzzling. And before returning in Cleveland’s past three games, he began the month having hit only 14.8 percent from deep in his first seven games in April.

Albeit fortunately it appears that Sexton is looking healthier, and though there was a bit of rust on-ball in his first two outings back after missing a few games, he looks to be in a better rhythm. That will aid Darius Garland, Kevin Love, Jarrett Allen and others from here, hopefully.

The struggles from three could be behind Sexton for the Cavs.

It seems that the deep ball issues could be behind Sexton, who has typically been a highly capable three-point shooter, at least off-the-catch, previously.

Now, Collin didn’t come into the league as a polished deep ball shooter, as he did appear hesitant letting looks go early on and had only hit 33.6 percent of his triple attempts in his lone collegiate season at Alabama.

In his time with the Wine and Gold in nearing on three seasons played, though, for the most part, he’s been pretty reliable when he has been taking those. And realistically, there hasn’t been much hesitation for Sexton from Year 2 onward, and even with recent struggles from deep, overall, he’s knocked in a healthy 38.6 percent from 3 in his career so far.

To drive it home, too, it seems that the struggles from this season’s third quarter could be behind Collin, as him having looked to gain his deep ball rhythm back has likely played into him having hit 58.3 percent of his triples in his past three outings. In that span, he’s had a robust 26.7 points per contest as well.

Sexton only attempted one triple in Monday’s loss at the Detroit Pistons, and made that, but with what he was able to do in other areas, it wasn’t overly concerning. The looks weren’t there nearly as often, either, so I’m not making a big deal out of that.

With the deep ball looking to be turning around for Sexton, generally, too, it’s also enabled him to benefit in other ways by utilizing change-of-pace more, which is so crucial for him to get to pull-up looks in the mid-range to get himself going. And from there, it’s better for him to get to the basket via drives.

Also, as the deep ball looks go down more for Sexton, as has often played out for him in the season’s first half, I’d expect that to aid him in the secondary playmaking sense as well.

Moreover, hopefully, and I believe it will typically be the case for Collin, based on what we’ve seen previously when he’s been mostly healthy and has appeared to have his change-of-pace, the deep ball struggles are over the rest of the season.

Now, as a side note, while I am absolutely not going to excuse the Cavaliers for them having lost to the Pistons on Monday, who were without the likes of Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee, among others, Sexton’s 28 points were big, as well as his defensive effort/urgency in some key stretches.

Cleveland falling behind by 23 points in the first quarter at one point and needing to play catch-up from there led to them eventually losing in the last few possessions, though, and again, I’m not saying that’s at all a moral victory. But Sexton’s efforts were significant, along with Darius Garland’s and Isaiah Hartenstein actually.

Albeit circling back, while it wasn’t shown on Monday really, Sexton appears to be getting himself right from 3, and that better feel should bode well for the rest of his game in this closing stretch of the season, I would imagine.

And that’s a positive that should lead to his share of free throws, of which have been the case already, anyhow.