The Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled in NBA Finals. The lack of ball movement is a contributing factor and will need to change if they hope to come back
The Golden State Warriors have clearly outclassed the Cleveland Cavaliers through the first two games of the 2017 NBA Finals.
Many will leap to the conclusion that the Cavs simply don’t have enough offensive firepower to contend with the Warriors. While that may be the case, a more systematic approach in figuring out why both games thus far have been blowouts, is to look at the difference in ball movement by each team.
Through the first two games of the NBA Finals, the Warriors have a 71.4 assist percentage compared to the Cavaliers 56.0 percent. The Warriors are also averaging 59 more passes per game than the Cavs.
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But how do we know ball movement has been the pitfall for the Cavaliers in this series? Is that really the reason why they have struggled?
The Cavaliers have looked competitive early in both games against the Warriors. The Warriors have only outscored the Cavs by a combined 11 points in the first half of both NBA Finals games.
However, in the second half the Warriors have dismantled the Cavs 118-88.
Scoring isn’t the only dramatic difference for the Cavs in each half. The table below shows the Cavs first and second half splits for various assist statistics.
| Total AST | AST% | AST Ratio | |
| 1st Half | 25 | 59.50% | 16.8 |
| 2nd Half | 17 | 51.50% | 13.3 |
The Cavs seem to have the more success against the Warriors in the first half when they have better ball movement on offense.
Not every player on the Cavs is to blame of course. LeBron James is averaging 11 assists per game which is higher than any other player in the series.
The problem is the rest of the Cavaliers are averaging less assists than they did in regular season.
See the comparison below.
| Player | Regular Season APG | NBA Finals APG |
| Kyrie Irving | 5.8 | 4.5 |
| Deron Williams | 3.6 | 2 |
| Kevin Love | 1.9 | 0.5 |
| JR Smith | 1.5 | 0 |
Obviously two games is a small sample size, but the Cavaliers’ lack of passing could a significant factor contributing to their second half woes.
There are a number of reasons of why the Cleveland Cavaliers ball movement ceases in the second half. It could be that the Warriors defensive strategy is to make the Cavs role players beat them or that the Cavs feel the game slipping away and they stray from their original game plan.
Regardless of what that reason is, if the Cavaliers have any chance of turning this series around it needs to start with ball movement. The Cavs are at their best when James is making off-ball defenders help when he drives to the basket, creating open three pointers for his teammates.
Must Read: Ranking the best defensive players in the Finals through two games
The Cleveland Cavaliers success this season has primarily come from beyond the arc. They made 13 three-pointers per game at an astonishing 38.4 percent over the course of the regular season, ranking them second in the NBA. High percentage, open three pointers for the Cavs are more likely to come as a result of ball movement, not isolation.
*all stats courtesy of basketball-reference.com