How Cavaliers Can Recapture Three-Point Shooting Magic
A game plan that propelled the Cleveland Cavaliers to the second seed in the Eastern Conference has all but disappeared over the last handful of games.
From the beginning of January to the middle of February, the Cavs were attempting almost 40 three-pointers a night. However, that has dropped to 29 attempts over the team's last four games.
How can Cleveland recapture some of this magic that led to a nine-game winning streak? J.B. Bickerstaff broke down what he thinks is the key to increasing the three-point numbers once again.
"We've just got to shoot it," said Bickerstaff before Cleveland's matchup with the Dallas Mavericks.
"I think there's been opportunities that we've turned down I also think we've lost a little bit of our getting to the paint, I don't think we've done as good of a job as getting to the paint. Because when we got to the paint, that's when those spray-out [passes] started to happen."
This isn't on one player or a specific unit on the floor. The Cavs, as a team, need to figure execute the gameplan to create more of these opportunities for each other.
Dec 23, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Max Strus (1) shoots a free throw against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
With all that being said, Bickerstaff isn't too worried about the brand of basketball his team is playing. They're still moving the ball and finding the open man. Now, the team needs to confidently start shooting the ball again.
"You look at last game [against the Wizards], we still got 30-plus assists, so we're sharing the ball and doing the right things, and playing the game properly, but I think we've just got to do a better job of taking what's available when we get those opportunities," said Bickerstaff.
Cleveland isn't far removed from their stretch of games when they were blowing teams out so it shouldn't be too hard to refind that rhythm.
