Only four days remain until the Cleveland Cavaliers make their playoff debut against a still-to-be-determined opponent. They will enter the postseason as the NBA's top-rated offense in the 2024-25 regular season, carrying a 1.178 efficiency mark and averaging 121.9 points per game. Both those metrics lead the association.
Anyone who has watched the Cavs this season has seen their spectacular offense on full display. Of course, in this day and age, being able to shoot the three-ball is always going to be a make-or-break aspect of any top-powered offense. You can have a perfect offensive process, but being able to simply knock down open shots is going to lift you or sink you at the end of the day.
If you look at the numbers, Cleveland finished the regular season with the second-highest team three-point percentage in the league, behind only the Milwaukee Bucks. The Cavaliers knocked down 38.3% of their shots from deep over the course of the last 82 games. But their rate of success from beyond the arc did not remain steady from October until April.
The Cavs' hot three-point shooting cooled off to end the regular season
As of March 11, Cleveland held the highest shooting percentage from three in the association, and they had been in that spot most of the year. Well, you may be looking at the fact that they have only fallen to second place now and wonder what the big deal is. The problem in this development lies in how exactly the Cavs fell down a spot.
Since that Mar.ch 11 date, the Cavaliers rank just 19th in three-point percentage. That is a sample size of 18 games. While the other 64 games obviously carry a heavier weight and that is why Cleveland still ranks just second, we have to consider the direction this team is trending in.
When you are heading into the playoffs, you do not wanting to be trending downward in such a key area. The Cavs have been able to torch opponents all year with their hot shooting, but the fact that shots have been falling less often for them in the last month is a concerning indicator of what could be to come. Of course, this number does ultimately make a lot of sense when we consider Cleveland's overall record as well. It's no real surprise that they were 54-10 before March 11, and then dropped eight of their final 18 games.
It's also no secret that the Boston Celtics are still the challenger in the East, and the Cavaliers are going to have to play their A+ game to have a chance of taking down the defending champions. Three-point shooting had been one of Cleveland's biggest strengths, but if they cannot reverse this trend, it may become their undoing.