Watching the Market: Cavs at Pelicans

The Cleveland Cavaliers shooting allowed them to overcome any attempts of a comeback.

Stock Up:

Three-point shooting

It appeared that the Cleveland Cavaliers’ offensive game plan heading into the showdown with the New Orleans Pelicans was to shoot the three. The first two shots to start the game were three-pointers from Donovan Mitchell and the team never looked back.

For four straight quarters, the Cavaliers were on an onslaught and the Pelicans, despite their massive advantage in free throws, weren’t able to fully claw their way back into this game.

The Cavaliers finished the game with 45 three-point attempts on 44.4% efficiency. The team has increased their perimeter scoring this season but tonight was an extreme.

Cavalanches in bunches

At times, the Cavaliers’ offense was firing on all cylinders. The Pelicans would get into a position where the Cavs’ lead would be trimmed down to 5 points and suddenly a switch flipped for the offensive and defensive intensity.

Early into the second, and late in the third the Cavaliers generated easy turnovers and then continued their three-point barrage. By the time the fourth quarter came around the game was essentially out of hand.

A depleted Bench providing valuable minutes

With almost a third of the Cavaliers roster on the injured list, everyone in the rotation has their minutes and roles adjusted accordingly. Usually, this makes the bench weaker as role players are thrust into bigger roles and weaken the back end of the rotation.

Tonight was a night for Damian Jones to shine. Jones, who has been an afterthought for most of the season, was sensational against the Pelicans. He came off the bench and showed aggression in getting to the basket and being in the right position to frequently receive Garland passes for the easy baskets.

Jones finished the game with 14 points and 4 rebounds in his most notable performance of the season.

Stock Down

Doubting Sam Merrill

There was a (short) stretch of games where it appeared Sam Merrill’s otherworldly shooting streak had come to an end. Well, it appears that Merrill regained his magic against the Pelicans.

Not only did Merill go 5 for 10 from the perimeter, but he also was second on the team in assists with 9 (career high). Merrill proves pretty consistently that while his three-point shot is his foot in the door for the league, he can impact a game offensively in other facets. Merrill has shown comfortability in running actions and locating the open man off the pick. Tonight was a great example of Merrill’s understanding of the offense.