At 51-29, the Cleveland Cavaliers currently hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference on a tiebreaker over the Boston Celtics, who share the same record.They’re also just 1.5 games ahead of the 50-31 Toronto Raptors and 3.0 games over the 48-32 Washington Wizards.Despite not putting up the win-loss mark that many expected them to accomplish this season, the defending NBA champions have still shown glimpses of brilliance and cohesion all season long.One of those moments came on Sunday evening against the Atlanta Hawks.Despite eventually losing the game, blowing a 26-point lead down the stretch, one play in particular showed what a luxury it is to have LeBron James on the roster.At the end of the second quarter, Atlanta’s Kent Bazemore converted the second of his two free throws. While most teams simply inbound the ball and make their way up court after a made shot, the Cavaliers have found a very simple, yet effective, way of earning two easy points. Check out their creative way of doing so below:
As you can see, having LeBron James essentially play wide receiver at the other end of the court in one-on-one coverage ends up being a massive advantage for Cleveland.
Over his time with the Cavs, Love has become a bit of an expert when it comes to delivering lengthy passes down the court.
Earlier in the same game, the All-Star forward found King James far down the court off of a missed shot.
Of course, this pales in comparison to Love and LeBron’s best connection of the season. With just seconds remaining in a game against the Wizards in February, Love found James at the other end of the court and the rest was history as the King caught the pass, gathered, faded away and drilled a game-tying three at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
The Cavaliers own the NBA’s fourth-best scoring mark, averaging 110.6 points per game on the year. While they’ve gone 3-2 over their last five games, they’ve put up 119.2 points per contest, which ranks second behind only the Golden State Warriors in that span.
However, over their last 10 contests, they’ve gone a very average 5-5 and own a plus-minus of just 1.0 point. Therefore, they are experiencing defensive issues that have clearly affected their ability to win games.
But, as seen by the Warriors in particular this season, a great offense will always trump a great defense in today’s NBA. Therefore, finding new ways to score high-percentage buckets is always appreciated. The Love-to-James fly pattern is a perfect example of creating an opportunity for easy points.