1 stud and 1 dud from Cavs’ sloppy win over the Knicks

1 Dud from Cavs win over Knicks: Free-Throw Shooting

I could go on and on about this subject, considering we saw how detrimental it was to multiple teams in the playoffs last year, proving the point that once again, shooting is the most important skill in basketball. However, the Cavs have shot the ball pretty well this season, which has been a bit of a surprise to me at least. Even so, they are still well below average from the foul line. Some may consider me a “hardo” or other things like that, but it drives me absolutely bonkers when NBA players cannot convert on their free throws.

Last night the Cavs were an abysmal 60% from the line, which many might say isn’t bad. However, in my opinion, if you play in the NBA, you should be converting on at least 75% of your free throws, but preferably higher. Teams who don’t shoot the ball well from the charity stripe, end up losing a lot of games they shouldn’t because of their inability to make clutch free throws.

As I said, I could go on and on about this, but the bottom line is, it needs to be fixed. The Cavs have shocked a lot of people thus far into the season, it would be a shame if free throw shooting was the reason for their downfall. When the pressure is on, making free throws is the hardest thing for a lot of players to do. I think they’ll steadily raise their free throw percentage, and by the end of the year, it will be over 70% percent.

Well, there you have it, a stud and a dud from an ugly game versus the Knicks last night. R.J. Barrett seems to be coming into his own, so the Knicks should be a contender for the foreseeable future. The Cavs should be considered a contender as well.