In case you were unaware, the upstart Cleveland Cavaliers are taking the league by storm recently, as the Wine and Gold have won seven of nine, in which they’ve had four and three-game win streaks. That’s been a great response to a five-game losing streak, which was somewhat due to injury. Both teams were on the second leg of a back-to-back on Saturday, but the Cavaliers got the job done either way 117-103, thanks to an 81-point first half.
Props to the Kings for making it interesting, particularly in the fourth quarter, when they got the game to single digits, but the Cavs eventually pushed through. It was Cleveland’s fifth game in seven days, with this past Sunday’s matinee close loss to the Utah Jazz in mind, for context.
Largely because of the work of their 4/5 duo in Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, and others such as Isaac Okoro and Ricky Rubio, the Cavaliers have been stingy on the defensive end for much of the season, for one.
Cleveland has the league’s third-best defensive rating this season, and even guys such as Lauri Markkanen, thanks to his length, and Kevin Love, similarly to Rubio in the reserve standpoint, have helped out, to a degree.
That said, as the Cavaliers have gotten much healthier and moved past COVID-19 health and safety protocols/illness absences, the offense has really been clicking. The lobs/interior feeds to Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley will be there, sure, but what’s been refreshing to see is how Cleveland has gotten rolling from three-point land, in playing off that.
I know there will be some streakiness involved; even still, among NBA teams in the last 10 games, the Cavs are fourth in three-point shooting hit rate at 39.5 percent and have made the ninth-most triples per game in that span at 13.2. Furthermore, in December, the Cavs are #4 in three-point shooting hit rate at 40.5 percent and they’re 10th in made threes per outing in that stretch.
And in that stretch, while I’m not discounting the team efforts and ball movement, two Cavs, in particular, have really been lighting it up from three in December. I was close to saying three, but we’re going with two.
With that in mind, we’ll shout out those two Cavs players here.
The first of those that’s been killing it from deep has been Darius Garland, who is taking that proverbial next step.
2 Cavs that are scorching hot from three – #1: Darius Garland
Garland has shown continued playmaking growth for the Cavaliers, and it’s apparent that the influence of one of the game’s better playmakers over the past decade in Rubio has had a lasting impact on Garland in that realm.
Rubio has given the Cavs a lift in that area, too, and I’m not glossing over that as a supersub-type player, but it’s just been nice to see Garland’s vision, timing and passing versatility all level up in Year 3. He’s had 7.6 assists per outing this season, which, with Collin Sexton having been out and out for the rest of the season, has been all the more crucial. Garland had a career-best 13 assists versus Sacramento, too.
As we alluded to, though, while he was only 1-of-6 from range versus Sacramento, and credit goes to Davion Mitchell for his second half defense, in most of December, Garland has been hitting from deep. That’s aided his scoring progression as well, as he’s had 19.0 points per game this season, and overall, has hit 38.4 percent from three.
And in December, a seven-game span, Garland has had 20.1 points per contest and has hit 48.8 percent of his 6.1 deep ball attempts per outing, and that range from him has only helped open up other key guys for the Cavaliers.
It’s clear that as opposed to last season, for example, Garland has had far more willingness to pull from range off-the-bounce, which has made him so difficult to account for throughout games. I’d expect to see that more and more from DG from here, also, and it can help him get penetration off that with defenders anticipating it, as we’ve seen throughout the season thus far.
2 Cavs that are scorching hot from three – #2: Kevin Love
Secondly, Kevin Love is the other Cavs player that jumps out as the other big-time sniper from three so far this month, with volume/appearances in mind.
Of course, Love has been transitioning to a reserve role this season, which, after his injury woes in recent seasons and with the other bigs involved, has been the right call. And it’s been good to see him bought into that move, but when he is in for Cleveland, it’s still evident that Love can be quite impactful for this Wine and Gold group.
The veteran 4 man is clearly not the player he once was, as we know. Regardless, similarly to Markkanen, since Love has returned from COVID-19 protocols, he’s been lighting it up from three, too, and even with a few off games here and there from deep, he has been a viable mid-post player, solid rebounder and passer.
On the subject of the deep balls, though, Love has been scorcing hot himself, largely, as in December, he’s hit 48.9 percent from three on 6.4 attempts per contest. That’s played considerably into him having 13.3 points per contest, even in 19.0 minutes per appearance.
We’ve started to see the Love pick-and-pops at times with Rubio, for instance, and he’s done a great job of making himself available, and much like Markkanen, he’s been a nice trailing threat in secondary transition at times, too.
Moreover, it’s been awesome to see the Wine and Gold clicking on all cylinders in recent weeks, and with the schedule opening up, to a notable degree, perhaps this hot shooting from the team holds for notable stretches in the season.