Cavs are shooting threes at a historic rate
The Cavs are having an all-time great season.
The ‘Cavalanche’ has become a nightly occurrence as the Cleveland Cavaliers are raining three-pointers at a historic rate. They’ve finally combined their world-class defense with equally impressive offense — and it’s spelled trouble for the rest of the league.
Cleveland has won nine straight games after dismantling the Dallas Mavericks last night. Each of those victories has come by double-digits, with the Cavaliers nailing 18+ three-pointers in seven consecutive games before hitting just 15 in Dallas. The Cavaliers currently lead the NBA in three-point percentage at 40.6% on 40.3 attempts per game. If this holds, Cleveland will become the first team in league history to shoot above 40% on 40+ three-point attempts per game.
This offensive explosion has taken the Cavs from outside of the club to the VIP section. For context, the Cavaliers scored 125+ points just 10 times all of last season. Right now, they are averaging over 125 points per game during this nine-game win streak. They’ve scored 130+ points in nine games, doubling their total from last season before even playing their first game of 2025.
Kenny Atkinson deserves immense credit for revamping the offense. He’s maximized every player on the roster, successfully decreasing Donovan Mitchell’s touches by 20 per game without sacrificing any offensive output. The ball is being shared throughout and it’s empowered nearly the entire supporting cast to have career-best seasons. Dean Wade, Georges Niang, Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert, Ty Jerome and Sam Merrill are all pouring it on from behind the three-point line.
Perhaps Atkinson’s biggest accomplishment is unlocking the Cavaliers’ bread-and-butter action: the pick-and-roll. With two dynamic guards and two rim-running bigs, this should have always been Cleveland’s greatest strength. But last season they ranked 20th in points per possession in pick-and-roll. This year they’ve jumped to second. The increased spacing and emphasis on drive-and-kicks have certainly contributed to this massive leap in Cleveland’s efficiency in the pick-and-roll.
Of course, a big reason for this is Evan Mobley’s offensive growth. He’s averaging a career-high 18.9 points and is on pace to more than double his three-point totals from last season. Mobley’s shooting above 40% from the three-point line while becoming the multi-faceted scoring threat he was always meant to become. His scoring presence and processing speed as a playmaker have given a new layer to Cleveland’s offense.
Having a strong inside-out game is what makes the Cavaliers the league leaders in effective field goal percentage. The core four provides immense pressure on the rim each night — thus unlocking their ability to spray the ball out to the perimeter and cash in quality three-pointers. The Cavs are top-10 in “open” and “wide-open” three-point attempts per game. It’s not hard to see why.
Looking at the full picture, Cleveland had long established itself as a defensive powerhouse. The Cavs ranked in the top 10 for Defensive Rating each of the last three seasons. Now they boast the best offensive rating in the league, as well. This barrage of three-point shooting, combined with their already elite defense, has left opponents with zero margin for error. Even Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick acknowledged that you have to play “close to perfect basketball” to defeat the Cavs.
If they keep shooting the ball like this, JJ might be underselling it.