INDEPENDENCE: One of the biggest problems facing the Toronto Raptors entering the Eastern Conference finals is the Cavaliers’ 3-point shooting. That isn’t much of a surprise – the Cavs’ hot shooting from distance created an early demise for both the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks.
But the Cavs’ efficiency in shooting 3-pointers could force the Raptors to change the way they defend. The Cavs enter Tuesday’s Game 1 against the Raptors shooting 46 percent from 3 in these playoffs. Their 134 3-pointers made are the most for any team – and they’ve done it in fewer games than any of the remaining teams.
The Raptors, conversely, allowed opponents to shoot 37.3 percent from 3 during the regular season. The only team to allow a worse percentage was the Phoenix Suns (37.7). That had Raptors coach Dwane Casey rethinking his long-held belief of defending by protecting the paint first on the eve of the conference finals.
“Our philosophy has been all year to take away the paint first and then get out to 3-point shooters,” Casey said. “We may have to adjust that schematically, personnel-wise. There’s some things we have to adjust to compensate for the 3-ball.”
Although they allowed opponents to make a high percentage of 3s, the Raptors were average in the number of 3-pointers they surrendered during the regular season. The numbers have improved during the postseason, but even Casey conceded “there’s a huge difference in the 3-point shooting of Cleveland and Miami.”
LeBron James has lived in the paint during these playoffs and has insisted the Cavs aren’t strictly a 3-point shooting team because of the way they can attack the basket on penetration. James credited the Raptors’ size for why they’re able to defend the paint, but doesn’t sound concerned if they try to take that away from the Cavs.
“We have counters for whatever a team tries to take away from us,” James said. “They’re a very good defensive team … but we’re ready for whatever. There’s not a defense that we haven’t seen to this point. If you limit our paint, we have guys that can spread the floor and once our guys get going on the perimeter, it opens up the paint. We’re ready for whatever.”
Casey watched the Hawks switch on pick-and-rolls and unsuccessfully try to take away everything from the Cavs. They failed miserably when the Cavs set records with their historic 3-point shooting. Casey sees things a bit differently.
“They’re such a great transition team, such a great penetrate, pick-and-roll team that you try to stop everything and you don’t stop anything,” he said. “We’ve got to choose. We have to pick our poison.”