Examining the Cavs’ offense: ‘We’re just playing real basketball out there’

The Cavs league-leading offense continues to drive wins.

The Philadelphia 76ers came out of the gate strong as they went up 25-14 through eight minutes on Saturday. The Cleveland Cavaliers responded with 16 points in the final four minutes of the first quarter to tie the game. They then followed that up with a 36-point second quarter to jump out to a double-digit lead. Then, they opened the third with nine unanswered points in three minutes to put the game out of reach.

The Cavs’ offense is inevitable. They’ve continually pounced on small openings their opponents give to break games open. It’s why they’re atop the standings at 25-4.

The offensive display that wore down the 76ers was nothing new. It was the third straight outing the Cavaliers registered 120 or more points. This has been an ongoing theme as they have the top offensive rating in the league.

We’re over a third of the way through the season. At this point, we have to just accept that they’re an offensive juggernaut. The question is, what has led to them consistently being this impressive?

“I think we have good variety,” said head coach Kenny Atkinson when posed this question. “I don’t think it’s one thing. We’re not completely pick-and-roll, we’re not completely transition. We have a pretty good balance in shooting.”

The balanced outside attack is part of it. The Cavs have six players shooting 40% or better on over two triples a game. This includes Donovan Mitchell who’s shooting 40.5% on 9.2 threes per game and Darius Garland who’s converting 44.2% of his 6.8 outside shots.

This has allowed Cleveland to lead the league in three-point percentage (40.5%). In the first month of the season, Atkinson would bring up that they are due to regress. He hasn’t mentioned that recently and may have realized that this is just who they are.

“When you shoot the three like that, it opens up everything,” Atkinson said. “Every guy we throw out there can shoot pretty much. [Jarrett Allen] is probably your only non-three-point shooter. So it gives us a huge advantage.”

As Atkinson first mentioned, there isn’t just one reason why this team has such an impressive attack. Ty Jerome highlighted the selflessness when asked what has made the offense so good. Mitchell attributed the good habits they’re building on that end.

“You’re starting to see us have a lot of success and just not getting tired of the repetition,” said Mitchell. “And sometimes it can be monotonous, over and over and over again, but that’s what makes you a great team.”

Evan Mobley brought up the speed they’re playing at when asked about the offense.

“Just our pace and how we all just play together, the ball movement we have, we’re just playing real basketball out there,” said Mobley. “Everyone’s making the right reads and doing what they’re supposed to.

The pace is noticeably different compared to years past. The Cavs play with an intentionality that allows them to create micro advantages that they’ve continually looked to exploit until the dam breaks. Playing faster helps cause that.

“It doesn’t let the defense set up,” Mobley said when asked why playing with tempo is so important. “By the time you get down the floor in like six seconds, the defense isn’t set. Mismatches that go into it. Once the defense is set it’s hard to score in the NBA. So the faster you play, the easier it is.”

Interestingly, these three answers all highlight different things that have made the game easier for them individually and as a result the team. Jerome has benefited from an offense that allows everyone to touch the ball and playmake. Mitchell has thrived in a more structured environment that relies on players being in the correct spots on the floor and reacting off of that. And then Mobley has feasted on the advantages that playing with pace on and off-ball creates as he’s been regularly exploiting mismatches since the Boston Celtics series last May.

The offensive side of the ball has led to the Cavs undoing the last two postseasons. They still need to show that won’t happen again next time around.

“Ultimately, we’ll judge [the offense] by how it transfers to the playoffs,” Atkinson said. “That’s always in the back of my mind, you know, thinking about the teams we’re gonna have to play. How can we even make this better? Because we know defense, it’s a different deal. So that’s going to be the big challenge.”

There’s nothing they can do in December to definitively show that this can translate to the playoffs. For now, they’ll just have to settle for being the best offense in the league.