How 1 sneaky adjustment helped Cavs’ stars save season in Game 3 vs. Pistons

Much of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ rediscovered offensive flow against the Detroit Pistons stemmed from a shift in mindset, but it was also due to a tweak in the schematics. Getting the ball to Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in a two-man game was a high priority for James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, and the Cavs, but that required a different technique in pick-and-roll situations.

“Screening was [an] emphasis that we focused on,” Evan Mobley told ClutchPoints in the locker room after Cleveland’s 116-109 win in Game 3. “I think I did a better job of hitting the guy, and that allowed James to get downhill and allowed the pocket to be even more open.”

“Important,” Max Strus added. “They did a good job. They screened, and then our two guys made plays, and they were impactful and helped us win the game.”

Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen combined for 25 of the team’s 28 free-throw attempts; making them count is another story for a different day. What that does indicate, however, is how consistently the Cavs had the ball with momentum at the rim, whether on the catch or self-initiated. It all starts with freeing each other up, and they found that setting the pick from below was more effective at stopping the Pistons in their tracks than a horizontal approach.

“Because the big has to help,” Jarrett Allen explained to ClutchPoints after Sunday’s practice. “Screening angles are super important. When Donovan’s getting downhill, you’re gonna make sure that everybody’s gonna have eyes on him. That’s gonna leave the big to be open and make plays for everybody else.”

“I think [the] first few games, [we] were screening sideline to sideline,” Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson added. “Sideline to sideline means you’re going towards the other sideline. So, screening angles are better, and that allowed our ball handlers to get downhill and allowed us to get in the pocket.”

Distances between the handler and the roller can also make a “little bit” of a difference on certain passes.

“You know you have more time if he’s further away from you,” Allen said. “You have a split second more to make a decision to kick it to Dean [Wade] or Sam [Merrill] on the other side, rather than just going up and having to dunk it.”

Mitchell noticed Detroit starting to take away Allen and Mobley’s dives in as a response to their success, which allowed Harden and himself to be aggressive. He scored a team-high 35 points, and he made 5-of-7 field goals in the restricted area. Harden got more to his floater, operating above the perimeter or in the mid-post on either side, looking for his teammates rather than taking shots and dominating the rock. He’s been giving it up to get it back in the last six quarters of this series.

“I think me just trying to move a little bit more without the basketball is key,” Harden said in his postgame press conference. “So then, you shift the defense a little bit, then you go into a pick-and-roll, and they’re not just loading up from the jump. So, you give them credit. They’re an extremely great defensive team. They’ve been all year long and even this postseason, so you’ve got to move them. You can’t just show them one action. They’ll stop it.

“From here on out, teams are really good. Once you get later in the series, teams get really good at understanding what you’re trying to do and stopping your first action, and they might stop the second action as well. So you’ve got to kinda get to the third action and fourth action to keep the ball moving, but that’s why you’ve got to play with pace. You’ve got to get the ball up past half-court sooner so you can get into those third, fourth actions, so you can get a quality shot.”

Those adjustments were a key factor in why the floor spread much better for Cleveland, and, in turn, put Detroit in more difficult defensive positions. When you’ve got to worry about a potent backcourt like that, it’s easy to forget that Allen and Mobley can do plenty of damage in their own way.

“Once I was in the pocket, I just made the right decisions, whether that’s going and dunking it or kicking it out to the open three,” Mobley said. “And I think that’s all you can do in the playoffs, is do the right things and make the right plays. That’s how you win the games.”

“I think it was just how much we talked about it after Game 2,” Allen added. “We came on the court, we tried to make sure that every single detail was to a perfect T, make sure that everybody was spaced, make sure that every rotation was well. Did we change things? Yes, but we made little details matter a lot.”

Matchups were more favorable for the Wine and Gold in Game 3, and that will be a focus to carry over into Game 4.

What’s being done away from the ball is just as important as what’s being done with it.

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