How the Cavs are shattering Miami’s defensive strategy

Mobley is finding counters to Miami’s defense.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are headed to South Beach with a 2-0 series lead over the Miami Heat. They’ve spent most of the first two games ahead by double-digits. But the Heat are deploying a defensive strategy that has taken an entire aspect of Cleveland’s offense off the board. So, how are they still winning?

Miami entered the first two games against Cleveland with a clear goal in mind: Limit opportunities in the paint.

The Cavs are scoring just 31% of their points in the paint. That’s the lowest percentage of all 16 Playoff teams so far. Cleveland is averaging 38 points in the paint, down from their regular season average of 51.

The Heat believe they have a better chance of winning this series by packing the paint and betting against Cleveland’s three-point shooting. They understand that allowing Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen to get free in the paint would be too much to overcome. Yet so far, Cleveland’s barrage of three-pointers has been just as damaging.

The Cavs hit 22 three-pointers on 49% shooting in Game 2. Their record-breaking second quarter was enough to build a healthy cushion that ultimately kept them in front even after Miami rallied back in the fourth.

Let’s look at how Miami is limiting Cleveland’s attempts in the paint and how the Cavs have responded.

Why Miami wants to keep Cleveland out of the paint

The Heat have made sure that Allen and Mobley have a body on them at all times. Bam Adebayo, in particular, has done a fantastic job of showing discipline and not leaving his man even when the Cavs penetrate the defense.

Take this play from the fourth quarter of Game 2. De’Andre Hunter gets an edge on the baseline and is flying to the rim. That doesn’t stop Adebayo from sticking like glue to Mobley. The Heat will take their chances on a Hunter reverse layup. They won’t place their bets against Mobley catching the ball in the paint.

There’s good reason for Bam’s decision to stay with Mobley. Mobley has been a dominant paint presence all season long. He’s already converted 7-of-11 attempts inside two-point range in this series. A catch this deep in the paint is an automatic bucket for Mobley.

We saw this throughout the game. Mobley saw red whenever he caught the ball with space or a weaker defender in front of him. The Heat just can’t afford to concede buckets like the one below. Mobley sees the mismatch and immediately goes to work.

It’s not just Mobley that the Heat have to worry about. Allen was equally aggressive when he had opportunities. Take this sequence in the second quarter: it starts with Max Strus bringing Adeabyo out of the play so Allen can fly to the rim.

Shortly after, it’s the same concept, but this time it’s rookie Kel’el Ware in the crosshairs. Allen is given too much daylight and he rampages for a dunk.

So now we understand why the Heat are making such an effort to keep a body on Cleveland’s bigs. These attempts at the basket are too efficient to overcome. The Heat would rather force the Cavalier guards to score in the middle of the floor. Like on this play below, Adebayo keeps Mobley sealed and allows Ty Jerome to go 1-on-1 against Nikola Jovic.

The Miami zone was successful in the fourth quarter. They held Mobley and Allen to zero field goal attempts. You can watch this short montage below of how Adebayo denied the ball from Mobley throughout this run.

The Cavaliers spent most of the quarter spamming guard-guard pick-and-rolls. This was successful as Donovan Mitchell roared to a game-saving 17 points in the final quarter. Still, the Cavs should look for ways to break the monotony and get Mobley more involved.

Cleveland’s counters

The second quarter was a great example of Cleveland shattering Miami’s game plan.

It begins with Mobley confidently taking and making an open three-pointer from the top of the key.

A few plays later, the Cavs are trying to break Miami’s zone. Mobley sets a ball-screen that forces Haywood Highsmith to rotate over and plug the driving gaps. This leaves De’Andre Hunter on the opposite wing for a lightly contested three-pointer.

The next play is the same idea. Mobley floats to the middle of the zone, so Highsmith momentarily slides over to deny him the ball. The Cavs wisely find Hunter again for another three-pointer.

This is how you take what the defense is giving without fully conceding to their plans. The Cavs are using Mobley as a decoy and generating clean looks because of his presence. Of course, Mobley has shown he can step outside of the paint and knock down three-pointers, as well. He nailed back-to-back corner 3PAs in the third quarter.

The Cavs can do more than rely on three-point shots, though. On the play below, Adeabyo’s attention is entirely focused on boxing out Mobley. This means Hunter is left alone — so he crashes from the corner and gets an easy putback layup.

The Heat are daring Cleveland to beat them with the outside game. The Cavs have shown they are comfortable doing that. But this doesn’t mean they should let Miami off the hook and continue to score all of their points from the perimeter. Working to get Mobley and Allen more involved in the paint will be an emphasis for Games 3 and 4 in Miami.