INDEPENDENCE: After struggling with ball movement for two seasons, the Cavaliers finally demonstrated an ability to play together consistently during their first-round sweep of the Detroit Pistons.
They passed the ball 10 times on one possession in Game 1, averaged 24 assists on 40 baskets through the first three games and morphed from a team heavy on isolation into a team that remembered how to move and cut without the ball.
Until all of that changed in the fourth quarter of Game 4. Turns out, that was by design.
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said Wednesday he wanted to revert back to iso ball during the fourth quarter because the Pistons went small and were switching everything defensively. That put the ball primarily in the hands of Kyrie Irving and LeBron James against Pistons guard Reggie Jackson.
The Cavs managed just two assists on seven baskets in that fourth quarter, but came out with the victory and the sweep when Irving made a 3-pointer in the final minute and Jackson left his potential game-winner short.
“We just tried to get the better matchup for our guys,” Lue said. “Reggie Jackson on LeBron or Reggie Jackson on Kyrie, just kind of play one-on-one and make the plays. You can get to the basket or you can make the extra pass. That was kind of our game plan because it’s hard to run a lot of things when teams are switching 1 through 5.”
The Cavs returned to practice Wednesday after taking off two days following the series victory. They were the only team in the East to sweep and they’ll benefit by having eight days off between series — the same amount of time they had last season between their first two rounds.
Lue said they came through the Pistons’ series relatively unscathed, although J.R. Smith was held out of practice Wednesday with a sore groin. It is not considered serious and Smith should be fine to play next week when the Cavs open their conference semifinal series at home against either the Atlanta Hawks or Boston Celtics.
Smith hurt the groin during the first half of Game 4 and was able to remain in the game Sunday.
“Nothing very serious,” Lue said. “He was still able to move, he was still able to get through the game.”
As for the isolation issues the Cavs experienced in the fourth quarter Sunday, Irving didn’t seem to think it was much of an issue and believes the Cavs can return to their ball movement ways when the next series begins.
“At the end of the day we have two of the best closers in the game playing on one team,” he said. “You have a 6-8 monster who can penetrate and get anywhere he wants on the floor and then myself having that confidence in those situations.
“We’re just following what Coach Lue wants to do. He wants the ball in me and Bron’s hands at the end of the game, and I think that’s where it should be. … At the end of the game, the ball should be in the two best players’ hands.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.