The Knicks devastated the Cavs with this playoff strategy; now the Cavs should use it against the Magic — Jimmy Watkins (2024)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Orlando Magic have found a crack in the Cavs’ defense, and it’s time to panic. Franz Wagner, or Jonathan Isaac, or Markelle Fultz is wide open — couldn’t contest their shot if somebody threw a shoe — and fans are all yelling the same thing at their televisions.

Whose man is that?!

Trick question, and the answers run the gambit. Could be Darius Garland’s assignment, could be Evan Mobley’s. But as long as the Orlando player is behind the 3-point line, it doesn’t matter. Cleveland’s best defense against the open shooter might be his internal dialogue.

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Shoot or pass? Brick an open look or balk at one?

These are the questions Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff can plant into opposing players’ minds during the first-round playoff series against Orlando. Five of the Magic’s top-eight minute-earners — Fultz, Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner Cole Anthony, and Paolo Banchero — shoot worse than 34% from 3-point range. One more rotation piece — defensive stopper Jonathan Isaac — attempts fewer than two 3-pointers per game. So when those players take the floor, Cleveland can take stress off its defense with a simple defensive strategy:

Let ‘em shoot.

Think it won’t work? Think back to last spring, if your heart will allow you, to the first-round loss to the Knicks. The Cavs posted an offensive rating (101.9) that ranked 16th out of 16 playoff teams during that five-game series, in part because Donovan Mitchell played below his standard. But Mitchell played below his standard in part because New York could clog the lane against Cleveland’s shooting-challenged lineups.

Pick any player from Cleveland’s playoff rotation last season, and consider whether he could be trusted to make an open jump shot:

Mobley? Too early in his development. Jarrett Allen? Too outside of his comfort zone.

Isaac Okoro? Cedi Osman? Both shot 31% or worse from 3 in the series.

And besides Darius Garland (38.7%) and Caris LeVert (36.1%), every other Cavalier either shot below 30% or refused to shoot more often than Okoro (13 attempts).

So the Knicks sagged off, stacked defenders in the paint. Garland and Mitchell found few clean driving lanes. Okoro found so little confidence after shooting 0 for 4 from 3 during Game 1 that Bickerstaff played him just 13 minutes per game from that point forward. Put another way, New York neutralized Cleveland’s best scorers and its best perimeter defender by nudging several toward their simple defensive strategy:

Let’ em shoot.

Now the Cavs have stocked up on shooters, however, and they have a chance to flip their fortunes against Orlando.

Wagner, who shoots 28.1% from 3 this season, is Orlando’s second-best player. Isaac, who shoots 34.1% for his career and only attempts 1.9 3s per game this year, is the Magic’s best defender, if not the best defensive player in the series. And Fultz (27.4% carer 3-point shooter) and Anthony (33.8% shooter this year) are Orlando’s best pair of bench creators.

But what role can they realistically play if they can’t make shots? How much can Isaac play, let alone disrupt Cleveland’s offense, if he doesn’t take shots at the other end?

And how much offensive load can Banchero (33.9% from 3) carry without a reliable jump shot or reliable shooting around him, particularly if Orlando’s shooting woes help Mobley and/or Allen stand under the rim for every Banchero drive?

Bickerstaff should find out, just like Tom Thibodeau before him. He should let viewers think the Magic have found a crack in the Cavs’ defense and should leave somebody is wide open. Because soon enough, fans will realize the crack was opened on purpose, and the shooter is open for reason. The only reason to panic exists in Orlando shooters’ heads, where the let-’em-shoot calculus is hurting their confidence and causing them to wonder:

Where is my defender?