When a good team is losing games, no matter the sport, sometimes we look at everything but the obvious answer. Struggles are ascribed to team chemistry or a busy schedule or injuries when the real reason is right in front of our faces.
After the Cavaliers’ 104-95 to the inept Nets on Thursday, is it simply that Cleveland, which is 4-3 in its past seven contests, is not good at shooting basketballs right now, which is a big part of winning basketball games.
From Jason Lloyd of Ohio.com, some facts and figures about the Cavs’ shooting against the Nets an this season:
They missed 10 straight shots when it mattered most and essentially went scoreless for the game’s final 6:11. Jordan McRae made a meaningless 3-pointer in the final seconds, but no one cared by that point.
I’ve written this before, but the Cavaliers are predicating themselves on being a drive-and-kick team. The only problem is once they kick, very few are consistently knocking down 3-pointers. Iman Shumpert, Kyrie Irving, James and Love are shooting some of their lowest 3-point percentages of their careers. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova have carried the Cavs in 3-point shooting most of the season.
LeBron James is averaging nearly 30 points per game while shooting 60 percent the past three games, but his 30 points against the Nets weren’t enough. If no one else is hitting shots consistently, then home-court advantage for the Cavs probably won’t matter once the playoffs start.
(Via Ohio.com)