18 stats to explain Cavs 94-87 win over Hornets

The Cleveland Cavaliers held the Charlotte Hornets to 87 points in their win on Wednesday. Whether that’s the result of good defense or poor outside shooting from Charlotte is for you to decide.

The stats in the table below are from Cleaning the Glass.

Now, let’s dive into the numbers.

• The Hornets shot 17% from three (1st percentile). Three-point defense can be difficult to diagnose on first watch. Well-defended shots can result in makes, and giving up uncontested threes can result in misses. There’s just a lot of variance there. The best defense is often done by limiting outside shots from the opponent’s best three-point shooters. The Cavs didn’t do that as Kon Knueppel (2-10 from three), Brandon Miller (3-11), and LaMelo Ball (0-10) all attempted more threes than their season-long averages. Based on that, this might have been a case of Cleveland benefiting from a horrendous shooting night from Charlotte.

• Charlotte’s eight three-point makes were their fewest on the season. It was also their worst percentage as they went 8-47 (17%) from distance. Their lowest mark in a game up until this point was 25%. This was an uncharacteristically bad shooting night for a top-ten three-point shooting team.

• The Cavs didn’t shoot much better as they went 8-40 (20%) from three (2nd percentile). This was also Cleveland’s worst shooting night of the season, and the second game in a row they only hit eight outside shots. This was the fifth time this season they’ve shot 25% or worse from three, and the first time they’ve won such a game.

• This was the second game in a row the Cavs had just 34 field-goal makes. That ties their lowest total of field goals in a game.

• Cleveland outscored Charlotte 25-17 on second-chance points. Both teams struggled to end defensive possessions with rebounds, but the Cavs did a better job of capitalizing on their second-chance opportunities. This was ultimately the difference in a game where both teams struggled offensively.

• Nae’Qwan Tomlin provided a career-high seven offensive rebounds. His ability to create additional scoring opportunities for the Cavs has been incredibly helpful this season. Tomlin came into this game in the 95th percentile for offensive rebounding percentage. As a result, the Cavs as a team have grabbed 3.8% more of their missed shots from the field when Tomlin is on the court (86th percentile). This was the fourth time he’s had four or more offensive rebounds in a game.

• Evan Mobley tied a season-high with 14 rebounds. This was the third time he’s reached that mark.

• The Cavs had three players with multiple blocks: Mobley (3), Jarrett Allen (2), and Craig Porter Jr. (2).

• This was the seventh time this season Porter has recorded two or more blocks in a game. Both rejections were on Ryan Kalkbrenner, who is exactly a foot taller than Porter.

• Cleveland’s 18 fourth-quarter points were the first time they’ve been held under 20 points in the final frame. It’s also the fewest points they’ve had in any quarter in a win this season.

• The Cavs tied a season-high with 21 turnovers. It was the second-straight game they committed 21 turnovers, and the fourth game in a row they had 16 or more.

• Donovan Mitchell is responsible for a season-high eight of those turnovers.

• Despite having eight more turnovers than Charlotte, the Cavs only lost the points off turnover battle by one point. The Cavs’ ability to create offense off the Hornets’ 12 giveaways went a long way in making sure they won this game.

• This was the first time the Cavs have won this season when they’ve scored 105 points or less. Cleveland is now 1-7 in such games. This was the third time they’ve failed to reach the 100-point mark.

• The Hornets were held to just 12 points in the second quarter. That ties the fewest points they’ve scored in a quarter all season.

• Charlotte scored 26 fast-break points. They were in the 94th percentile for points scored in transition. Some of that is due to being able to run off of steals, but they also did a good job of getting into the open floor off defensive rebounds. This is an area the Cavs could’ve done a better job in defensively.

• The Cavs’ half-court defensive rating of 59 is their best this season by a wide margin. Their previous best for a single game coming into this was 84.6.