The Cavs Are Playing The Slowest Basketball In The NBA

Cleveland has the slowest pace of play in the NBA despite having one of the best records in the league.

When fans think of the modern-day NBA, they may think of fastbreak dunks, quick transition threes, and players running up and down the floor. This isn't necessarily true for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

While they have had their fair share of transition highlights, they also are playing as the slowest team in the NBA.

The Cavs have the slowest pace of play in the entire NBA at 96.09. The Dallas Mavericks are barely a little bit faster than the Cavs at 96.22. This number comes from the team's time of possession and the estimated number of possessions per 48 minutes.

On the opposite side of the graph, the Golden State Warriors are playing with the fastest pace in the NBA with a 102.96.

So what is behind this ultra-slow pace from the Cavs?  

Part of it has to do with the number of shots that Cleveland gets up per game. They are averaging just over 84 FGA a night which ranks 26th in the NBA. The Mavericks have the lowest attempting 83.2 shots per game.

These below-average shots per game have to do with where Cleveland runs their offense. They have one of the best frontcourts in the NBA with Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley in the paint and J.B. Bickerstaff and the coaching staff allow them to do their work down low.

This in return results in a much slower offense than the Warriors or Celtics who fire threes left and right. 

The Cavs also aren't getting the fastbreak points that would boost their pace of the place. Out of all 30 teams in the NBA, Cleveland ranks 23rd in the league with only averaging 10.6 fastbreak points a night. Again, it's the Mavericks who have the fewest with only nine a game. 

Even though Cleveland has a slow pace of play, it doesn't mean they haven't been successful so far this year. They have a 22-11 record which puts them one game out of the top seed in the Eastern Conference.

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