Good luck stopping the new-look Cavaliers on this play

The Cavaliers weren’t quite out of the woods yet.

Even though they had 17-point lead with three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Celtics were a couple of stops and a couple of baskets away from creating the momentum they’d need to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter. It would’ve at least gotten the home crowd, which was starting to lose its patience with so little to cheer for in the lead-up to Paul Pierce’s jersey retirement, back into the game.

Instead, fans at the TD Garden watched the Cavaliers toy with the Celtics by running the same set on four consecutive halfcourt possessions. The first time they ran it, LeBron James set Jordan Clarkson up perfectly for a wide open 3-pointer on the left wing. James then knocked down a floater in the paint and followed it up by finding Clarkson for another open 3-pointer from the exact same spot as before. While the Cavaliers failed to score on their fourth attempt — James missed a shot he makes more often than not — the sequence helped them push the game out of reach by extending their lead to 21 points heading into the final quarter.

The Cavaliers have burned teams with a variation of the set in the past, only this version plays to the strengths of the new players they have on the roster. To understand why, let’s take a closer look at how it works.

The lineup

The five players on the court for the Cavaliers were Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood, J.R. Smith, LeBron James and Larry Nance Jr.

Clarkson and Smith aren’t the most efficient 3-point shooters in the league, but defenses have to account for them on the perimeter because they won’t hesitate to shoot when left open. They’re also the type of shooters who are capable of catching fire, so defenses often respect their ability to space the floor even when they are struggling to knock down outside shots. As for Hood, not only can he create plays for himself on kickouts — he’s made 38.8 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3-pointers and 41.6 percent of his 2-point pull-ups this season — he generates a decent amount of his offense running off of screens. Then there’s Nance, an athletic big who can make plays above the rim as the roll man and off of cuts.

The combination means James is surrounded by three perimeter shooters and a lob threat in the paint. Operating as a point guard from the power forward position, it gives him all the space he needs to create high percentage looks for himself and his teammates in halfcourt settings.

The formation

The play begins with Clarkson giving the ball to James at the left elbow while Hood and Smith space the floor by running to opposite corners. Nance, meanwhile, draws the opposing team’s center out of the paint by parking himself on the right elbow.

It’s important Nance draws Aron Baynes out of the paint because the play’s first option is for Hood to run off of a screen from Clarkson and make a hard cut to the paint for a potential layup or dunk. (Channing Frye used the same cut to score three consecutive layups in a game against the Heat earlier this season). The Celtics take that option away, however, by having Terry Rozier and Semi Ojeleye switch assignments when Clarkson sets the screen on Hood.

As Hood clears out to the opposite corner, the play turns into a simple pick-and-roll between James and Nance. James is one of the best pick-and-roll scorers in the NBA this season, ranking in the 90.2 percentile with 1.04 points per possession. Nance only ranks in the 44.0 percentile with 1.03 points per possession as the roll man, but he’s an excellent finisher at the basket and provides far more vertical spacing than someone like Tristan Thompson. Despite the fact that Nance isn’t much of a scorer outside of the paint, it makes them a natural pick-and-roll pairing.

The options

One of the upsides of starting the play by giving James the ball at the elbow is he’s closer to the basket when Nance eventually sets the screen on his defender. James is more than capable of making the defense pay when they go under screens in pick-and-rolls — he’s made 36.5 percent of his pull-up 3-pointers this season — but it’s much harder to keep him out of the paint when the screen takes place a step or two inside the perimeter.

If James is able to get into the paint, he can finish at the basket or pull-up for a floater when his defender gets caught up in Nance’s screen:

James can obviously lob the ball to Nance at the rim depending on how the defense chooses to defend the pick-and-roll. If teams throw two defenders at James and stay home on Cleveland’s shooters, Nance will take advantage by making himself an alley-oop target. If teams like the Celtics involve a third defender to prevent James and Nance from scoring at the basket, opportunities will open up for the shooters.

Hood and Smith are also options for James, but teams are generally more reluctant to help one pass away when they are on the strong side.

The variations

We’ve seen the Cavaliers run a variation of this play many times before, the key being James receiving the ball at the elbow and facing up to the basket. From there, he can set cutters up with layups, set shooters up with 3-pointers, turn himself into the scariest roll man in the NBA and, as was the case against the Celtics, run his own pick-and-roll at the top of the perimeter as the ball handler.

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Who surrounds James in those situations is important. Prior to their dealings at the trade deadline, the Cavaliers were still giving minutes to Dwyane Wade and Derrick Rose — two guards who aren’t shooting threats from the perimeter — and Isaiah Thomas, who made 25.2 percent of his 3-point attempts in Cleveland. In their place, they now have Hill, Hood and Clarkson, all of whom are willing 3-point shooters who are better equipped to play off-ball next to James.

It’s why this probably isn’t the last time we’ll see the Cavaliers use this play this season.