Despite the Cavs’ coming out on top tonight, I am once again completely and utterly baffled by their decision-making for the vast majority of the 4th quarter. Brian Windhorst has been harping on the team’s 4th quarter offense for weeks now, and he’s absolutely right about it. Normally I would just leave it to him to handle this, but I thought that their game plan for the final 12 minutes was so completely divorced from what they did for the previous 36 that I have to point out some specifics that he didn’t.
The Cavs shot a grand total of 30 free throws tonight, and they actually made 83.4% of them. This is a positive anomaly that ultimately helped to decide the game. However, only 6 of those 30 FTAs — or 1/5th of the total — came in the 4th quarter. This is largely because the team spent the majority of the period jacking up perimeter jump shots.
The Cavs attempted 8 threes in the 4th quarter. They attempted 22 threes in the entire game, meaning that more than 1/3rd of those attempts came in the deciding quarter. They also attempted two 4th quarter jumpers of 15-20’. Of those 10 shot attempts (8 3FGA, 2 perimeter jumpers), they hit 1 — a Mo Williams three.
These facts are especially confusing when you consider that the entire rest of the game, the Cavs seemed to be showing a conscious and continued effort to attack the Raptors in the paint and draw fouls. Which is a good, sound strategy when you’re against a team that until recently was on pace to be the worst defensive team in the history of the league (yes, literally) and Shaq is being guarded by, in his own words, the Rupaul of big men.
The Cavs attempted 30 shots at the rim (meaning layups, dunks, tips) overall tonight, but my perusal of the play-by-play suggests that only 5 of them (1/6th of the total) came during the fourth quarter (1 Shaq dunk, 1 LeBron dunk, 1 Andy lay-up, 1 DWest dunk, 1 missed Shaq hook). They also drew 21 fouls on the Raptors, which is a total that would have been even higher if Toronto had anyone other than Rasho Nesterovic who was really willing to hammer an opposing player to prevent a score. But only 4 of those 21 fouls came in the 4th.
In other words, the Cavs spent 3 quarters employing a strategy meant to wear down the opponent over time and pay off big in the 4th, then abandoned it with 11:59 left. They did this despite having a relatively dismal shooting night from distance (31.3% 3FG) with Bron going 0-7 on his own.
And yet, despite it all, they won the game by 8 points. In a perverse way, this is actually an indication of just how good the Cavs are. At the same time, it’s also an indication of just how much better they could be — which is the frustrating part.
Here’s hoping they figure it out.
-T
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