The Land Before Time: Cavs Pre-Game Thoughts
November 5, 2025 vs Philadelphia
Lebron whams with the right hand. Joe Tait. Boobie Gibson three’s. The Q. Ira Newble. Lebron lifting the Cavs above the Pistons for the first Finals appearance in franchise history. And those navy uniforms.
All these are images that come to my mind when I think of the 2000s Cavs and the Lebron 1.0 era. A time when basketball moved to the forefront of Clevelanders’ minds and the hometown hero took the Cavs to new heights. In spite of the bitter ending to the Lebron 1.0 era, I still look back fondly on it. I was a kid, and the energy in the arena for those teams was electric. The pride in seeing a Northeast Ohioan lead that team to national relevance had a profound impact, too.
Now we find ourselves in another exciting era of Cavs basketball and a piece of that time returns. The navy uniforms that were, dare I say, iconic, return to the Cavs lineup tonight. My nostalgia meter is off the charts. Let’s hope the unis bring the magic of that era back too.
On the court, the 2025-2026 Cavaliers are still working to find their stride, a reasonable endeavor considering the injuries and inconsistencies with line-ups. The defense is just fine, currently ranking 6th in the NBA in terms of defensive rating. However, if there is a point of frustration I have with this team so far it’s with establishing an offensive identity and playing offense with a purpose. It has shown, as the Cavs’ offensive rating is currently 111.3, good for 26th in the NBA.
My contention is not that this will be an issue all season. At this moment I believe wholeheartedly it will improve as players come back and rotations become more familiar. My issue is that it should not take having all your personnel to work on establishing the kind of offense you want to play. It is this lack of intentionality that slightly worries me.
In the first game of the season against New York, the Cavs offense struggled to generate good shots. Their expected field goal percentage was 41.1%. To put that in perspective, 41.4% would rank 29th in the NBA this season. Meanwhile, the Knicks expected field goal percentage in that game was 46.6%, demonstrating that they generated better looks.
Following the game and before the next one, the Cavs talked about establishing the interior game. They did just that against Brookly, for one half… Then they changed their approach and let Brooklyn back in the game. I have not seen such intentionality in the Cavs offense since that first half in Brooklyn, and I would like to.
The Cavs lead the NBA in the percentage of attempted field goals that are 3-pointers (51.8%). Yet, they are 17th in the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage (34.9%). Only Golden State has a higher percentage of their total points coming from 3-pointers (Golden State is at 41.8% and the Cavs are at 41.7%). Overall, the Cavs rank 25th in field goal percentage (44.5%).
There is certainly variance in shooting. I have every expectation that the Cavs will improve as players get healthy and more bounces go their way. But there is more to the slow start for the offense than injuries. The lack of intentionality has resulted in poor shot selection, which in turn feeds poor results. Change that, and this offense will start to hum no matter who is on the court.
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