Cavs: Backcourt play has been mixed bag, but uptick of 3s is good sign

I’m going to be patting the Cleveland Cavaliers and their starting backcourt on the back for landing a narrow win at the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. Trae Young, Danilo Gallinari, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Clint Capela didn’t play in that game, and Cleveland was blown out on Tuesday in their preseason opener at the Chicago Bulls.

Cavs fans shouldn’t be impressed, and they certainly aren’t from Cleveland’s play in those preseason outings.

There have been some positives, though, and it has been only two preseason games, so one shouldn’t be rushing to judgement; let’s chill a bit here.

For one, even with offensive rough patches at times, rookie Evan Mobley has been quite the disruptor defensively, and his play on that end was the key positive from Cleveland’s L to Chicago. Mobley has shown some things as a passer, which should be tapped further into, too, and some drives/finishes from him have caught my eye, along with his rebounding.

So how about that young starting backcourt, then? Well, simply put, there’s been ups and downs, as while Cleveland is looking to push pace more, it doesn’t excuse the guards’ decision-making at times in preseason games thus far, and Ricky Rubio has had some to do with that.

The starting backcourt of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton has been the main culprits in that way, as Garland had four turnovers at Atlanta, and Sexton had a whopping seven. In the game prior, Garland had two and Sexton had five. That can’t happen regularly.

On a positive note, though, it’s been nice to see Cleveland genuinely seem to be stressing making the right pass, and from there, one thing has resonated with me, regarding the backcourt.

The uptick of threes taken from both, as compared to last year’s clips for them, has been a good sign.

The uptick of deep balls taken from Garland and Sexton has been a fairly promising development.

In the first two preseason games, Sexton shot three and then eight triples, whereas Garland shot five and then six. With Sexton overall, he hit of those three and just two-of-eight versus Atlanta, with Garland going one-of-five, then three-of-six.

The gyst is, though it will take some time for both to keep looking for those, and I’d think off-the-bounce, as those are reportedly a point of emphasis for Sexton, for one, throughout games, both do legitimately appear to be looking to generate more of those.

Now, Sexton going two-of-eight against the Hawks from there, and him having an effective field goal shooting clip of 46.3 in preseason isn’t fantastic, but what we’ve hit on has been a good sign for him and Garland.

There will be some streakiness I would imagine for some time, however, with both being Cleveland’s top two scoring options, and the club reportedly stressing for both to take more threes this season, seeing them seemingly at least seeking those out is a positive.

I would hope that the Cavaliers can find ways to get Garland more off-movement looks off relocation, and the likes of Evan Mobley could help there, for instance.

But overall, even with it taking some time in-game, it’s great to know that Garland was reportedly working on his range in the offseason, and hopefully, with more confidence, that will lead to more decisiveness from him from deep. That will aid him in other ways as a playmaker for other shooters, I believe, and some as a driver/pick-and-roll initiator.

On Wednesday, he again had four turnovers, which wasn’t ideal. That said, Garland did have seven assists, and to reiterate, if he can balance looking for more triples, in-rhythm ones, and getting others quality looks, it will be the happy medium.

He hasn’t attempted a ton over his 4.9 per outing last season, the mindset though does seem different, which could open up his game more, including as a driver if he’s willing to get to the line.

With Sexton, there will likely be a bit more volatility from deep, but him looking to make defenders pay more and generating more triples off-the-bounce will only make him more dangerous in secondary transition, for example.

From there, while his turnovers have been a problem, albeit it’s only been preseason, it has been encouraging to see Cleveland stressing him looking for skip feeds and making extra passes more.

He seemingly demonstrated growth in that realm last season, and with him likely more comfortable in-season, we’ll see a three uptick, and I could foresee him keep improving as a secondary playmaker. That could play out with better chemistry with Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, Lauri Markkanen, Garland, Kevin Love and others.

Moreover, it’s again been a mixed bag for Cleveland’s young starting backcourt, but it’s clear the club is stressing for both to seek out more triples, and as far as some struggles, preseason/the team looking to push pace more can attribute to some of that. And there are some new guys involved.

I do think that both Garland and Sexton will be fine, generally, though, and if both can still be respectable, the uptick of threes attempted will round out things offensively for them more game-to-game.