5 things we learned from the Cavaliers’ sweep of the Pacers

2. Playmaker Deron Williams has arrived

After a late January loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, LeBron James voiced his displeasure and called for the team to add a backup point guard. In the offseason, the Cavs lost Matthew Dellavedova and the retirement of Mo Williams left them with no backup for Kyrie Irving.

Not long after, GM David Griffin delivered by signing veteran Deron Williams, who had been bought out by the Mavericks. In 24 games with the Cavaliers during the regular season, Williams averaged 7.5 points per game on 46 percent shooting. Williams didn’t seem to gel with the rest of the offense. There was a lot of confusion who the primary ball handler was for the second unit, him or LeBron.

But since the game against the Miami Heat, where Deron Williams scored 35 points and had nine rebounds and seven assists, the backup point guard has come alive. His best moments of the playoffs came in Games 3 and 4. In the first game at Indiana, Williams played the entire fourth quarter in a miraculous comeback win. In Game 4, Williams had his highest scoring game, dropping 14 points, while looking like vintage Deron from his Utah days.

Williams will be an X-factor heading into the next rounds of the playoffs. When Kyrie Irving goes to the bench, it’ll be important for D-Will to keep the offense moving. It finally looks like the playmaker that LeBron asked for has arrived.