5 things that went wrong for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2020-21 NBA season
The 2020-21 Cleveland Cavaliers had another dismal NBA regular season and finished the year way out of postseason contention. They had a decent start to the year as they went 4-2 to start off. But the rest of the way was once again a callback to the Cleveland Cavaliers sans LeBron James in their modern era.
J.B. Bickerstaff's squad finished the 2020-21 NBA season with a lowly 22-50 record and 13th place in the Eastern Conference standings.
All areas of the basketball court were a struggle for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2020-21 NBA season, although Darius Garland and Collin Sexton were bright spots on the offensive end.
5 Areas that did not work for Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2020-21 NBA season
When a season goes as terribly wrong as the 2020-21 NBA campaign went for the Cavaliers, questions must be asked and issues will have to be fixed ahead of the next season.
In this piece, we will give you five things that went wrong for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2020-21 NBA regular season.
#5 The Cavs struggled at guarding the three-point line
The 2020-21 Cleveland Cavaliers had tremendous difficulties in most areas. But allowing opponents a high percentage from the three-point line was among their biggest problems.
The Cavs allowed opponents a 38.3% three-point field-goal percentage throughout the 2020-21 NBA regular season. They were third-worst in terms of defending the three-point line from a percentage standpoint, and it was one of the primary issues with the Cleveland outfit's defense.
#4 Larry Nance's unlucky draw with injuries
Larry Nance Jr. was one of the few bright spots for the Cleveland Cavaliers during the 2020-21 NBA season.
However, Nance only played 35 games during the 2020-21 NBA season due to injuries and illness that hindered his and his team's progress. The 28-year-old was undoubtedly the best defender on the Cleveland Cavaliers' 2020-21 roster, but struggled to feature regularly.
His impact on defense was noticeable during his 35 appearances as he ranked 10th in the league in percentage of the rivals' possessions ended in turnovers, with 3.3%.
Nance also averaged a career-best 1.7 steals per game during the 2020-21 NBA season while making a career-high 36% of his three-pointers as well. This is a small sample size due to the volume of games he missed, but Nance's impact was massive for the Cavs whenever he featured.
His season ended with a fractured thumb, and he had also suffered from an illness during the season that heavily impacted his physique.