The Cleveland Cavaliers have an unconventional starting lineup. Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Lauri Markkanen all stand 6’10” or taller, and each could reasonably pass as a center in today’s smaller, more versatile NBA.
Having so many massive humans on the court at once may seem a disadvantage when facing off against the quick, agile guards and wings that tend to dominate the league, but Cleveland has found a way to use its size as an advantage.
The Cavaliers are crushing teams when its trio of bigs share the court, outscoring opponents by 7.1 points per 100 non-garbage-time possessions, per Cleaning the Glass. They’ve been similarly effective when utilizing Kevin Love - who is frequently paired with at least one of the Allen, Mobley, Markkanen triumvirate - as well.
Cleveland has made its bones on the defensive end of the court. Size tends to be very useful in that regard. The Cavaliers have long limbs to extend into passing and driving lanes, and two very good help defenders/rim protectors to clean up any mistakes in Allen and Mobley.
Offensively Cleveland has been roughly league average, which is a good deal better than most prognosticators predicted coming into the year. A significant portion of the team’s competence comes thanks to a leap from point guard and primary offensive fulcrum Darius Garland.
The Cavaliers give Garland the reigns in the pick-and-roll frequently. He’s a threat to shoot from anywhere on the court, a sound decision maker, and a really sharp passer. Love, Markkanen, and Mobley provide just enough shooting and off-the-dribble creativity to ensure Garland has the space to make the offense sing, despite not having much in the way of traditional perimeter talent beside him.
Cleveland’s 112.9 non-garbage-time offensive rating in Garland’s minutes ranks in the 74th percentile league-wide. The Cavs like to run Garland around screens away from the ball from time to time, a strategy they also employ with Love and Markkanen.
When Cleveland wants to keep opponents on their toes, it turns to a strategy that has gone out of style in recent years: getting the ball in to post. All four of Cleveland’s primary bigs are capable scorers on the block.
Each of the Cavaliers’ options in the post approach their opportunities differently. Mobley uses his length and touch for turnaround jumpers and feathery hook shots. Allen is essentially an endless pivoting machine who slides his big frame through small cracks surprisingly effectively. Love leverages the threat of his shooting to draw fouls. Markkanen basically only posts up if he has a clear size advantage and simply bullies his way to the rim.
Cleveland doesn’t finish an astronomical number plays out of the post, but the 5.9% of their possessions that end with a shot, ranks as the sixth most in the NBA, per NBA.com. The 1.05 points per possession they generate on those looks is second overall.
The Cavaliers uses a variety of canny strategies to make life just a little bit easier for their post players. They love to run simple high, low actions to counteract some of the spacing challenges that arise from playing so many bigs at once, and frequently look to post in transition, creating additional space to operate in before opponents set their defense. Love is particularly fond of feeding the ball to his fellow big men on the break.
Having so many competent post players on the court at one time means there is almost always have a size mismatch to take advantage of, particularly if opponents prioritize switching defensively or are stuck in a scramble situation. Cleveland isn’t afraid to take advantage of those opportunities.
Posting up is just a wrinkle for the Cavaliers, not a fundamental strategy. They utilize the pick-and-roll and handoffs at the elbows as their primary offensive pillars. That’s a wise choice. It’s hard to create an efficient offense predicated primarily on post ups without a Joel Embiid or Nikola Jokic level talent.
The threat of a post up makes Cleveland’s more essential sets all the more potent though. Every little bit of unpredictability an offense can create matters, and the Cavaliers leverage the possibility of post play to create tiny moments of indecision that help to grease the wheels on offense overall