The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the midst of a historic start. They’ve already surpassed a franchise record for the best start to the season and are currently in a tie for the fourth longest season-opening win streak in league history. The Cavs could very well be 20-0 by the start of December. That is if a highly-anticipated showdown with the defending champions goes Cleveland’s way when they play the Celtics on the road in an NBA Cup game on Nov. 19.
But for right now, the Cavaliers are the darlings of the league. They’ve won close contests, like a pair of victories over the Bucks that was won by a total of three points. They closed on a 21-7 flurry to dispatch the Bulls on Friday. Cleveland’s also blown out lesser competitors, like the 30-point win against the Raptors in their first game of the season. No one could’ve predicted that the Cavs would start this hot, and yet here we are. In an effort to explain how they got here, here’s three factors that have played into Cleveland’s impressive winning streak.
Red-hot 3-point shooting
The Cavaliers are middle of the pack in terms of 3s taken per game, literally they sit 15th in the league (37.2). But they’re making them at a scorching 41.2% clip, which ranks first. This number isn’t likely to hold, especially when you have someone like Isaac Okoro shooting 48.5% from deep. Okoro’s developed into a decent 3-point shooter after shooting 29% from deep in his rookie season, but he’s a low-volume shooter, not someone who instills fear in opponents when you leave him open. Darius Garland is also unlikely to continue shooting 44.9% from downtown, and specifically 39.5% from 3-point range off the bounce. But that’s how the Cavaliers have been winning games. They’ve got four guys shooting over 36% from deep on 4+ attempts per game. That’s the type of shooting that wins championships in June, but we’ll see if that holds over the course of the season.
What likely will hold from Cleveland’s hot shooting stretch is the number of wide-open 3s they’re getting. The Cavs get off 20.3 wide-open 3s a game. That…
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