When I last materialized in the film room dimension, it was to share the good news about the Cleveland Cavaliers’ newfound rim protection in Timofey Mozgov. This time, we’re going back to the offensive side of the basketball.
The wine and gold have been on fire of late as evidenced by their 17-2 clip in their last 19 games, but it goes well beyond that. Since January 15, the Cavaliers rank first in the league in offensive rating (112.7), eFG% (54.5%), and TS% (57.8%). The game we’re going to focus in on is what I believe to be one of the most complete halves of offensive beauty the Cavaliers have had this season, their huge win against the Los Angeles Clippers before the All-Star break.
First, we see the Cavaliers getting into their offense early in transition. LeBron James gets the ball, and Mozgov immediately gets out ahead to run the floor. As you will see in multiple clips in this film room, LeBron and Mozgov work the two-man game in early offense quite a bit. The other three starters do a fantastic job of floor spacing and stretching the floor.
Notice how Kyrie Irving fills one wing, Love is the trailer on the opposite wing, and J.R. Smith sets up in the left corner. Mozgov sets the pick to the inside, but James goes opposite. This forces Mozgov’s man, DeAndre Jordan, to stop the dribble penetration as Matt Barnes tries to fight over the Mozgov screen. All of that sets up Mozgov to slip the action and finish a tough shot over Jamal Crawford on the left (opposite) side of the rim.
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Once again, we see LeBron and Mozgov occupying the middle of the court in transition and the rest of the Cavaliers spacing the floor and sticking to the sidelines and perimeter. This time, James gets the ball knocked away, but Mozgov who is running a straight line to the rim, picks it up in stride and does his best Ilgauskas impersonation as he takes it to the hole and slams it home.
There isn’t much to analyze other than that Mozgov’s athleticism is definitely something I hadn’t gathered in the limited number of times I had watched him play prior to joining the Cavs. When you run the floor, opportunities like this can present themselves.
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Moving right along, we see a halfcourt set where James isolates himself on the right side of the floor. The other Cavaliers occupy the opposite corner (Love), wing (J.R.), top of the key (Kyrie), and lower block (Mozgov).
The defense is so heavily shaded toward James that Jordan leaves Mozgov and forces Blake Griffin to split the difference between Moz and Love. This division of labor allows Mozgov to slide in undetected behind Griffin just as he feels the pressure to stay close to Love in the corner. Jordan pinches back, but not strongly enough as Mozgov catches it underneath the basket. One power step, and it’s an easy slam for Timo.
At one point in this set, all five Clippers have their heads turned toward LeBron without regard for their man. That speaks to the power James has over the opposing defense as well as the favorable opportunities the Cavs can and will get with one or two passes against that defensive imbalance.
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The Clippers probably realized this and discussed how they had paid too much attention to James on that possession. In this set, we start with Irving and Love pick and roll action on the right wing. Love fades to the right corner, and we see Mozgov flash once again.
The Clippers have this figured out this time. They are very attentive to Mozzy as he traverses the paint. However, forgetting about LeBron James, even when he is 30 feet from the basket is a very dangerous game. Matt Barnes, responsible for James, gets caught taking in the previews as the feature presentation comes speeding down the tracks. Chris Paul tries to help, but it’s too late. LeBron attacks the rim and ferociously throws down the hammer.
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We return to more beauty in transition on this set. Irving pushes the ball this time and centers it. Iman Shumpert runs out ahead of the pack down the right sideline and actually just keeps on going underneath the basket and through to the left corner.
This action draws attention and sets up J.R. Smith to fill the unoccupied right wing and bury the open transition three as Kyrie finds him. The Cavs take advantage of the 5-on-4 by pushing the ball and getting a shot up after one pass. The play would have worked everyone else carrying through with their spacing, but Tristan does the rim running this time, and Love heads to the opposite wing for good measure.
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Back to LeBron isolation, we see James on the opposite side of the floor. Mozgov passes the ball from the wing and cuts to the opposite side of the floor. The high-low post action works as Tristan Thompson and Mozgov exchange places.
James hits Tristan as he’s cutting through the middle of the lane. Thompson operates best offensively with quick, one-track moves. This catch and quick turn back to the right for a baby hook works like a charm. With the team as currently comprised, Thompson has the luxury of being the fourth or fifth offensive option on the floor.
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LeBron uses the screen frequently from either Mozgov, Love, or Thompson early in the shot clock. However, sometimes it’s best to just attack without the extra defender lurking and before the defense can setup any further.
Notice the spacing as James crosses halfcourt with the basketball. Matthew Dellavedova has sprinted to the right wing to spot up. Mozgov runs to the right block and then flares out to the corner to keep the paint open. Love is once again the left-wing trailer which has to be respected with his three-point prowess, and he rotates to the corner. Irving is the last guy up the floor on the right wing. Everywhere you look, the Cavaliers have options to capitalize from the outside.
The arc isn’t what this play is about though. James gets by Barnes. Dahntay Jones jabs but recovers to Irving on the wing. Blake clears the launch pad as it’s already too late by the time the King gets his head of steam rolling.
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On the very next possession, James goes right back at gouging the Clippers defensive fleet. He brings the ball up the opposite (right) side this time, and the Cavaliers fill their fastbreak lanes again. Irving heads opposite corner, Love is opposite wing, Mozgov rim-runs, and Dellavedova sprints back to the strong-side wing.
James has the unique ability to slow-play the dribble penetration and stun the defender. Blake Griffin picks him up, but LeBron gets to the middle, gets the shot up, takes the contact, and converts the and-one opportunity as he hits the deck.
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One final play we’re going to look at is just before the end of the half. The Cavaliers have four different players touch the ball before they get a shot up.
Kyrie and LeBron interchange at the right wing, and Love ball screens for James. J.R. Smith is in the opposite corner, and Shumpert is on the opposite wing as Irving cuts to the near-side corner. The James/Love action is heavily covered, and when James kicks it out to Shumpert on the wing, Jamal Crawford is forced to do the impossible. He can’t cover both Shumpert and Smith, so Shump passes up a good shot to quickly send it to Smith in the corner for a great shot as Crawford is left caught in the middle.
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How are the Cavs accomplishing this offensive efficiency? In short, they’re taking and making a lot of three pointers. Whether it’s fastbreak points, points in the paint, points off turnovers, or mid-range, the Cavaliers are either near the middle of the pack or in the bottom half of these categories in this hot stretch. However, they are taking the second biggest percentage of their shots from three-point range (36.6%, second only to Houston), and they’re deriving 31.4% of their points from those threes (again second to Houston).
While the ball movement has had extended moments of crispness, the assist numbers are not overwhelming. In fact, the Cavs have the fourth fewest three balls assisted by percentage in the last 19 games (77.2%). This means that the Cavaliers have a good chunk of unassisted threes, most of which come on isolation by Kyrie Irving and LeBron James. The Cavaliers as a matter of fact have two of the top five isolaters in the game in terms of reps. LeBron has 312 iso possessions, yielding 0.96 poins per possession, while Kyrie has been more efficient with 195 such trips and 1.10 PPP. Kyrie’s FG% in these situations outshines LeBron’s by no small margin (47.2-41.3%)
What characterizes the Cavaliers offense when it’s firing on all cylinders? The team has two of the top ten drivers in terms of points per game (James – 7.8 (4th), Irving – 6.3 (10th)). They also have two of the top 15 in terms of catch and shoot points per game in J.R. Smith (6.3) and Kevin Love (6.1). Iman Shumpert comes in at 4.4 points per game in that area, and he’s also knocking down a whopping 43.1% of his catch and shoot threes in Cleveland.
More than ever, David Griffin’s mission statement of fit seems to be coming to fruition. The Cavaliers’ offensive depth and breadth is incredible. Whatever the situation – inside, outside, pick and roll, or isolation – the Cavaliers have multiple players to deploy a well-balanced attack. With their top seven in the rotation, there is virtually no drop-off.
Until next time, the film room is closed.
7 Comments
very well done. I cannot watch all that many Cavs games, but that one was televised and really demonstrated how perfectly each of the Cavs players can fit in the current system. and, those shooters get more open looks than any team in the league.
GAME FILM MIXED WITH ANALYTICS???
ABSOLUTE HERESY!!!
…..also, technically the Cavaliers offense is keeping it 102.
they have a fever?
Yes, a fever for winning games in which they score 102 or above.
27-1 this year.
and here I was hoping it was for more cowbell
Great stuff, kirk. You can see so clearly in your first vine the power of mixing a stretch 4 with a skilled big and a great slasher. There’s about 12 open feet between Love on the wing and both Lebron and Timo – and that’s the strong side of the court! There are multiple options before they even need to swing the ball.
After the Piston game their bigs were lamenting the difficulty in picking poison. In this offense J.R Smith is like the loneliest man in the NBA. It’s suddenly seems appropriate to have a catch-and-shoot guy who isn’t known for thinking so much. Probably doesn’t fret at all about being too open, just lets it fly.
Have to admit I didn’t really know Mozgov at all before he came here. Plays with way more intensity and general bounciness than we usually see in a 7 footer, like a St. Bernard puppy or something. Some really nice chemistry mixes going on right now remind me of the ’95 Indians. Mozgov and Dellavadova the wild kids, Kyrie the icy surgeon, JR the crazy, Imam the happy one, Love the talented but aloof, and LeBron the Regal conducting and rolling up the newspaper when necessary. This is what I was hoping for last October. Very fun.
This breakdown was awesome.
Next time, perhaps you can break down some of their set pieces? It looks like they run the same weave and some other plays as Blatt’s Israeli teams did (actually run a lot of stuff that team did in the Euro tourney) and it’s devastating to other teams. I noticed the Cavs will often use Kyrie as a far corner decoy, too, to stretch the D away from the side Lebron is working on (or allowing him to pass cross court for the open 3). And Kyrie loves to run the drive where he either takes it, has an easy center lob, or an open kickout 3 option.
So much fun.