The Cleveland Cavaliers are in the middle of one of those stretches that every NBA team dreads - where the process looks right, but the results just won’t follow. Their offense, once a strength, now feels stuck in neutral, and the culprit is no mystery: the three-point shot.
Right now, the Cavs sit 28th in the league in three-point percentage. That’s a steep drop from last season, when they ranked second.
What makes the dip even more frustrating? They’re still firing from deep at one of the highest rates in the league.
That’s a dangerous combination - high volume, low efficiency - and it’s made their offense look far more broken than it actually is.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson isn’t panicking. In fact, he’s pointing to the data to show that the team’s shot selection is solid.
“We’re sixth in shot quality, overall shot quality,” Atkinson said before Sunday’s loss to the Hornets. “Not 26th - sixth.
Three-point shot quality, we’re 10th. Rim shot quality, we’re seventh.”
The Cavs’ internal metrics - which factor in who’s taking the shot and the type of look they’re getting - suggest the team is generating good opportunities. But good looks don’t mean much when the shots aren’t falling.
And right now, they’re not.
Among the currently healthy rotation players, four of the Cavs’ top six in three-point attempts are shooting more than five percentage points below their career averages. That’s a slump you can’t just scheme around - it’s a cold spell that’s cutting deep into the team’s rhythm and confidence.
Let’s look at the numbers:
- Donovan Mitchell is actually shooting above his career average at 38.1% from three, a rare bright spot.
- But Darius Garland is at 28.2%, down a staggering 10.3% from his career mark of 38.5%.
- De’Andre Hunter is hitting just 30.3%, down from 36.8%.
- Lonzo Ball, known for his improved shooting in recent years, is struggling at 26.0%, nearly 10% below his usual 35.7%.
- Dean Wade is also down significantly, shooting 30.3% compared to his career 36.2%.
- Rookie Jaylon Tyson is the outlier, shooting a blistering 46.5% from deep - but he’s not taking enough attempts to offset the collective dip.
So what’s the adjustment? Atkinson wants to see more rim pressure.
“I’ll keep saying it - every game I’m going through the tape, and I’m like, ‘There’s probably four or five shots where we can get to the rim,’” Atkinson said. He pointed to a recent fast break by Garland against the Wizards as a positive example - opting for a layup instead of pulling up for a three. It’s the kind of decision that can shift momentum and create easier buckets.
But even that hasn’t been a cure-all. The Cavs rank 19th in field goal percentage at the rim, a drop from ninth last season.
So even when they’re getting to the basket, they’re not finishing at the same rate. That’s where the outside shooting slump starts to ripple through the rest of the offense.
As Atkinson put it, “They’re connected. When you start making some threes, it opens up shot fakes and drives to the rim.
If I played one-on-one with you and I wasn’t making any threes, you’d start backing off me, right? It’s all related.”
He’s not wrong. The NBA is a make-or-miss league, and history backs it up.
Last season, seven of the eight teams that reached the conference semifinals were top-10 in three-point percentage. On the flip side, only one of the bottom 10 teams in that stat had a winning record.
The math is clear - if you can’t shoot, you can’t win consistently.
That’s why Atkinson isn’t ready to overhaul the offense. The team is generating the right kinds of shots. They’re just not dropping - not yet.
“I’d be really worried if we were 26th in shot quality,” he said. “We’re not making them right now, and last year we were making everything. So we’ve completely shifted.”
The coaching staff is digging into the details: who’s taking the threes, where they’re coming from, whether they’re off the dribble or on the move. It’s all part of trying to unlock this team’s offensive potential again.
Because at the end of the day, as Atkinson put it, “That’s what this game is about - making shots.”
The Cavs believe the law of averages will eventually swing back in their favor. Until then, it’s about staying the course, trusting the process, and hoping the cold spell ends before it buries their season.