East Conf. Finals Game 1 - Cleveland Cavaliers 83-108 Boston Celtics - 5 Talking Points

#4 The Cavaliers shot poorly from downtown

JR Smith gets a tough shot to fall in

The Cavaliers' mantra for victory during most games is to generate a ton of 3-point shots via drive-and-kicks by LeBron James. Given how most 3-pointers are taken from 24 feet or further away (except corner 3s), the very nature of this shot is such that it could be on or off on a given night.

Tonight, it was very much on the off side, as the Cavaliers went for the entire first half without connecting on any of their 3-pointers - that was, indeed, the first time it has happened this season. JR Smith was 0-of-3 from downtown, LeBron was 0-of-5, Rodney Hood was 0-of-2 and Jeff Green was 0-of-1.

Only Kyle Korver (1-of-5), Kevin Love (1-of-4), George Hill (1-of-2) and Jordan Clarkson (1-of-2) connected from downtown as the Cavs went a combined 4-of-26 from long range. Not only were they shooting an abysmal percentage (16%), they also generated fewer of those shots than their regular season average of 32.1.

The Cavaliers need to win 4 out of their next 6 games, and they might not want to be overreliant on a gimmick like this for much longer.