ATLANTA: James Jones has made more than 800 3-pointers in his career. He won a 3-point shooting contest. He won a championship playing alongside shooters like Ray Allen and Mike Miller.
But never has Jones seen shooting like this Cavaliers team.
“This is the best shooting team I’ve ever been on,” Jones said. “I’ve been blessed to play with some very good shooters, but from top to bottom this roster is assembled with some dead-eye shooters.”
The numbers from this postseason are staggering.
The Cavs’ 77 3-pointers in the sweep of the Atlanta Hawks is the most 3s made for any playoff series that went six games or fewer, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
They shot 51 percent from deep against the Hawks, more than doubling the NBA playoff record for most 3-pointers in a series when a team made at least half of them. The previous record was held by the Utah Jazz, which made 39-of-75 3-pointers against the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals in 1996, according to Elias.
By the end, Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer couldn’t even fault his defense. There were a few defensive breakdowns, of course, but Budenholzer couldn’t even be overly critical of the way the Hawks defended the Cavs. The combination of talent, ball movement and shooting ability was simply too much to overcome.
“The shooting has been just an incredibly high level,” Budenholzer said prior to Sunday’s Game 4. “At times the defense has been as good as we can possibly be, and for a lot of the game I’m not overly critical of our defense on the 3-point line. … Of course we can be better, but I don’t think we’re just horrendous by any shape or form.”
The Cavs will enter the conference finals against either the Miami Heat or Toronto Raptors having made more 3-pointers than any other team in this postseason. They have made 134 3-pointers in the playoffs — and they’ve done it in the fewest number of games. The team closest to them is the Hawks, who made 106 3s in their 10 playoff games. The Warriors entered Monday night with 91 3s in their eight games to rank fourth.
The looming question, of course, is whether they can maintain this frenetic pace for two more rounds. The players and coach Tyronn Lue all say yes because they’re creating the shots off dribble penetration and ball movement.
LeBron James has denied throughout the playoffs the Cavs are a jump-shooting team and Jones agreed he doesn’t want the Cavs to be viewed that way. Whether the Cavs can keep attacking and moving the ball remains to be seen.
“At the end of the day, our shooting is coming from our ball movement,” James said. “Myself and Kyrie [Irving] are getting downhill and we’re attracting a second guy, a third guy at times. Our shooters are locked in and ready. It’s up to us to get the ball right there in the shooting pocket and they’re good to go.”
Griffin seventh
Cavs General Manager David Griffin finished seventh in Executive of the Year voting, released Monday. San Antonio Spurs GM R.C. Buford won the award for the second time in three years.
Griffin received no first-place votes, three seconds and one third. The award is voted on by the league’s general managers.
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.