Why Kenny Atkinson isn't worried about Cleveland Cavaliers three-point woes

The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA.

After 27 games to start the 2025-26 NBA season, the Cavaliers sport a 15-12 record and the 28th- ranked three-point shooting percentage in the league. Just last year, the team was one of the best in the league with a record of 64-18 and finished the year with a three-point mark at 38.3%, ranking them second.

So, what's with the struggles and such a far fall from grace in just a few months?

It comes down to hitting shots. According to head coach Kenny Atkinson, the team's shot quality is in the league's top percentile, both from beyond the arc and inside, while also getting quality looks underneath the hoop.

“I’ll just go with the data,” Atkinson said when asked about his team’s three-point shooting on Sunday. “We’re sixth in shot quality, overall shot quality. Sixth. Not 26th, sixth. Three-point shot quality, we’re 10th. Rim shot quality, we’re seventh.”

While the general public doesn't have access to the deeper levels of efficiency and quality that the NBA teams do, the numbers that are publicly available do show that the Cavaliers just aren't knocking them down. They are shooting 33.9% from beyond the arc on a league-high 44.1 attempts per game.

And they aren't just chucking up shots, they are getting good looks that aren't rattling home.

In field goal percentage, they are ranked 23rd in the league at 45.6% on an again league-high clip of 92.5 shots a night. When shots aren't falling, both inside and out, players aren't going to be able to free up avenues for shots, mainly due to the fact that teams won't be scared of any specific area of the Cavaliers' offense.

If they can get either the inside looks to start becoming really efficient, or the three-point arc becoming dangerous, it'll free up shots in other areas of the court. Atkinson echoed this thought.

“I’ll say this, they’re connected,” Atkinson said. “When you start making some threes, it opens up, shot fakes, and drives to the rim. If I played one-on-one with you and I wasn’t making any threes, it’s gonna be tough for me to get to the rim because you start backing off me, right, if I don’t have a physical advantage.

"So, they’re related, but we can do a better job.”

He's not concerned with these early struggles in the campaign, especially due to the talent the team has.

“The sky is not falling,” Atkinson said Sunday. “Crises aren’t happening. … Catastrophes are not happening…just so you guys know. We’re going to be all right.”

For the Cavaliers, it really comes down to taking looks they know they can connect on. The playstyle of forward Evan Mobley isn't that of forward De'Andre Hunter, and the playstyle of Jaylon Tyson isn't that of MVP candidate Donovan Mitchell. If each player can understand and settle into their role better, the Cavaliers might be able to return back to 2024-25 season form.

They'll have a chance at redemption and returning to winning ways on Wednesday, Dec. 17, when they take on the Chicago Bulls on the road from the United Center. The two sides will start action at 8:00 p.m.