Zach Lowe finally features Cleveland in his column. It's behind a paywall so I will reproduce it (except for videos) here:
This week, Lowe reveals something delicious brewing in northeast Ohio, a second star in Memphis, the return of the NBA screen shove -- and the most aggressively boring team in the NBA.
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The Cavs were supposed to be dead. They've faced the league's strongest schedule. Every key player but bench savior
Ricky Rubio has missed at least two games.
Lauri Markkanen and
Kevin Love have both missed about half the season so far.
Collin Sexton has too, and he's not coming back.
And yet: The Cavs are 12-10 with the league's No. 3-ranked defense and ninth-best point differential. If that defense is anything like real, the Cavs will hang in the play-in race.
The only red flag: Their opponents have hit 32.9% on 3s, third lowest overall. But the Cavs haven't allowed many 3s, and they should withstand warmer enemy shooting if they keep attempts down.
They have yielded bundles of shots at the rim, but that may be somewhat by design: Good freaking luck finishing around
Jarrett Allen and
Evan Mobley -- the front-runner (by a hair over
Scottie Barnes, who somehow plays with electricity and chill at once) for Rookie of the Year. Even when the Cavs split those two up, they have plenty of length. (One accidental benefit of Sexton's absence is playing
Isaac Okoro more at shooting guard instead of small forward.)
Their opponents have hit just 58% at the rim -- second lowest, per Cleaning The Glass. That doesn't feel like a fluke.
They're 21st in scoring efficiency, and it's hard to see them finishing above league average -- or even reaching there. But there are signs of hope. Markkanen's shot is coming around, and they'll need him to help prop up the offense when
Darius Garland rests. Cleveland has scored about 110 points per 100 possessions with Garland, but just 95.5 when he sits.
I wrote about Allen's blossoming post game two weeks ago, and he has only gotten nastier since. He's calling for the ball now, and the Cavs look for him.
But Allen is a lob-catcher at heart, and he and Garland are developing special pick-and-roll chemistry. They might become Central Division
Trae Young and
Clint Capela.
Garland is an expert at changing pace, and his floater is a weapon; he has hit 51% on midrangers. He uses the identical release on layups and lobs, and that disguise keeps defenders guessing until the ball is in midair. The threat of Garland's floater gets Allen alley-oops, and the threat of those alley-oops gets Garland floaters.
Garland is patient and creative:
That's a smart, unconventional play. Garland could stop for his floater, but he sees Allen with a mismatch and daylight on the right side. Garland swerves that way, and boom goes the dynamite.
Nine times out of 10, the guard in Garland's position yanks
Kristaps Porzingis to the perimeter. Garland is headed there, but senses an opportunity to cut backdoor -- knowing Love is a willing passer.
Garland has another leap in him, and the possibility of that coming over the next 60 games is the best reason for hope that the Cavs can sustain an average-ish offense.
It's unclear who beyond Garland, Mobley and Allen is a long-term keeper -- I'm more bullish than most on Sexton -- but the Cavs have something cooking.