Kyrie Irving and LeBron James running down the middle of the court to draw in defenders works. What doesn’t work is having a lot of versatile lineups and skillset going unused because there’s a system already set in place. While Tyronn Lue’s system is great at providing balance for the Big Three and almost automatically assigns roles to other players, the Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the most predictable teams in the NBA. Like it did in David Blatt’s tenure, this predictability makes an elite team easier to guard.
That’s especially true when players are shooting their shot more than moving the ball around to find the best one.