Cavaliers ability to get to the rim has changed the series

The Cavs found and exploited a weakness in the Celtics’ defense.

It would be easy to dismiss what the Cleveland Cavaliers did in Game 2 against the Boston Celtics. The Miami Heat also blew the doors off the Celtics in Boston before being dismantled over the next three games.

The difference is the way both teams went about beating the Celtics. Miami shot the lights out while benefiting from an uncharacteristically poor shooting night from Boston. The Cavs got the latter, but defeated the Celtics by punishing them in the paint. This is a formula much more repeatable than going 23-43 (53.5%) from distance.

The Cavs have converted 77.1% of their looks at the rim through two games. For context, the league average percentage at the rim in the playoffs is 62.8%. The difference between Games 1 and 2 for the Cavs is the number of attempts they got at the rim. In Game 1, only 21% of their attempts were at the rim (10th percentile). That number jumped to 39% (82nd percentile) in Game 2.

This has been a sore spot for the Celtics all season when Kristaps Porziņģis is not on the court. Opponents shot just 60.3% at the rim this season with Porziņģis on the court (95th percentile for a defense). That percentage rose to 66.5% (50th percentile) with him on the bench. Getting to the rim is the issue teams have had against Boston when Porziņģis isn’t on the floor.

Cleveland found a way to get there repeatedly in Game 2 due to their dynamic guards and Evan Mobley’s finishing ability at the paint. They generated looks in four basic ways.

Punishing switches

Mobley found something here in the fourth quarter of Game 1. That carried over to Game 2 as Mobley comfortably attacked in this area as did the rest of the Cavaliers when they found themselves in this situation.

Pulling the center out of the paint

Getting Mobley going early opened up Cleveland’s entire offense. He did a good job of hitting foul-line jumpers when they left him open there. And when they came out to cover him, he found cutters.

Pushing in transition

The Cavs played with a faster pace in Game 1, but it often felt like they didn’t know what their goal was. In Game 2 it was clear. They attacked their defender every time they got a chance to do so when there wasn’t backside help. Even someone like Max Strus, who isn’t known for his ability to get to the rim, confidently went after Jaylen Brown when there wasn’t additional support.

Attacking Boston’s drop coverage

The Celtics’ lack of rim protection means they need to give much more space on pick-and-rolls than a team like the Orlando Magic. Jalen Suggs and Gary Harris were able to be aggressive in the pressure they applied because they knew there were multiple bigs able to help at the rim. Boston doesn’t have that. They have to give space to allow their defenders to fit under and cut off attacks to the rim before they get there.

The Cavs used this to shoot over the defense when it presented itself.

The extra room forced Boston’s defense to make a decision when they did attack inside. Here, they chose to focus on Donovan Mitchell which left Mobley open for an easy layup.

There are areas Boston can clean up. They can do a better job of defending in transition and likely won’t have to do that as much if their outside shots are falling. However, they don’t have the personnel to sure up their rim protection without opening up another potential problem. They have to pick their poison to some degree.

Boston will likely be more committed to sending help at the rim in Game 3. This would dare the Cavs to beat them with their outside shooting which isn’t something they haven’t consistently done in the postseason. They also could throw more doubles at Mitchell. He did well with that in Game 2, but it is something he’s struggled with in the past.

The Cavaliers have found a weakness in Boston’s defense. Whether or not they can continue to expose it will go a long way in deciding the series.