Cavs’ clutch-time offense was good even though shots didn’t fall in loss to Magic

The Cavs look generated the looks they wanted to down the stretch, they just didn’t go.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have the most wins and the least losses in games that are within five points in the final five minutes of regulation. That’s still true even though the Cavs couldn’t come up with the baskets they needed down the stretch in Sunday’s loss to the Orlando Magic.

Cleveland’s ability to generate clean offense late in tight games has set them apart all year. Their 136.3 offensive rating in the clutch leads the league by a healthy margin. That has been fueled by connecting on 42.1% of their outside looks in these situations.

Their sound offensive process was still there late against the Magic. The over 40% three-point shooting they’ve displayed in the past wasn’t.

The Cavs extended their lead to three in the final two minutes with this nice drive and dish from Darius Garland. Gary Harris got caught trying to take away Garland’s space. A timely Allen dive from the corner led to an uncontested dunk.

The next possession was easily Cleveland’s worst down the stretch. Donovan Mitchell tried to take Wendell Carter Jr. to the basket, but Paolo Banchero was able to provide help from the strong-side corner. Mitchell decided to drive anyway and ended up turning it over.

The process here was bad.

Max Strus’s three on the following possession was a good example of what makes Cleveland’s offense so hard to defend.

Garland created an angle for Allen — similar to two possessions before — but Carter did a good job of recognizing it and recovering. Allen immediately found Strus on the wing and set a screen for him. Harris and Carter were a split second late in deciding whether they should switch the screen which led to a clean look from Strus.

So far, the process has been great on two of their three possessions in the final two minutes.

The next play is even better executed than the previous Strus three.

Orlando showed that they were switching screens with Strus in the previous possession. Garland used this to get Franz Wagner on him in isolation. Banchero rotates down to take the possible dump off to Allen, but Carter doesn’t bite on the drive due to giving up a pass to Allen on two of the last three possessions.

This left Hunter — who has connected on 9 of his 22 corner three-point attempts since coming to Cleveland — wide open. He uncharateristically hit the top-right corner of the backboard, but this was a great look and one you would sign up for.

That’s three optimal shot attempts on four trips.

A dumb foul from Mitchell right after Hunter’s miss meant that the Cavs needed a three to tie the game. Poor defensive execution from Orlando nearly allowed that to happen.

Carter fell asleep on this possession. Allen went to set a screen for Mitchell, but Carter wrongly wasn’t at the level of the screen. This forced Wagner to come down from the weak-side corner. Banchero did a good job of cutting off the pass to Strus in the corner, but quick ball movement led to a clean look for Strus.

Wagner was able to get a late contest on the shot, but Strus, who’s connecting on 37% of his corner threes, got off as clean of a look as you can ask for in this situation.

That look brought the total to four good shot attempts in five trips down the court.

The Cavs got the rebound but were fouled. This led to a sideline out of bounds.

Orlando’s defense was set up not to give up a three-point shot. Garland had a decent alley for a layup to extend the game with 17 seconds left but decided to pass out of it for a three. Mitchell was covered, but a quick shake off the ball allowed him to get a decent look off. Harris was only able to provide a contest from the side.

An offensive rebound gave the Cavs one more crack at it. Allen quickly got the ball to Mitchell who sprinted to the corner for another attempt at a game-tying three.

Mitchell’s shot was off-balance, but all things considered, this was a good look thanks to an Allen screen. But once again, it just didn’t fall.

You could argue that the process that led to the first Mitchell three wasn’t great. Garland could’ve attempted a layup, and with two timeouts, the Cavs had plenty of time to try to take a three on the following possession. Mitchell was able to create separation from Harris for the first attempt, but it wasn’t as clean of a look as the corner threes for Hunter and Strus on the previous two possessions.

Still, the Cavs were able to generate six shots ranging from decent to great on their last seven possessions that mattered. That’s exactly what you want to do. They just weren’t rewarded for their efforts.

It’s a make-or-miss league. On Sunday, the Cavs missed. But even in the loss, they showed why they’ve been so good in the clutch this season. Their offensive process remains incredible when the game is on the line.