Surrounding LeBron James with four shooters might be a really good idea
With 7:41 left in the fourth quarter of the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ game with the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night, coach Tyronn Lue inserted LeBron James back into the game. The Cavaliers closed the game with a 22-5 run.
But when it comes to the big picture, you can make a case that putting James back into the game might not have been Lue’s most important substitution down the stretch.
With 6:42 left in the fourth quarter, Lue put J.R. Smith in for Iman Shumpert.
Cleveland’s team on the court?
James surrounded by four elite shooters: Smith, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Channing Frye.
Entering Friday, that five-man lineup had played four minutes together the entire season: three minutes in the regular season, one minute in the playoffs.
Those five played five minutes, 18 seconds together in the fourth quarter Friday. In that stretch:
• The Cavaliers outscored the Hawks 16-3.
• The Cavaliers shot 6 of 10, including 3 of 5 from beyond the 3-point line.
• The Cavaliers got eight of their 10 shots directly off a pass, four from James.
• The Cavaliers were 3-for-3 on uncontested looks off passes by James.
This postseason, the Cavaliers are shooting 64 percent (18 of 28) on uncontested 3-pointers off passes from James.
Is there anything to this lineup, or was it just one hot stretch? We could find out in Sunday’s Game 4, when we’ll see if Lue decides to play these five together for more than five minutes, 18 seconds.
