Positives for Cleveland Cavaliers in season opener; 3 takeaways

3. No consistency in shooting

A lack of consistent shooters from deep plagued the 2018-19 squad and it was a problem in game one of this season as well.

The Cleveland Cavaliers shot 9-of-24 from the 3-point line in this game. But overall, the team connected on a horrid 37.1 percent of their field goal attempts. This was compounded by a 3-for-16 shooting performance in the second quarter.

Cedi Osman has been one of the biggest culprits in terms of inconsistency. Last season, Osman ranked as the third-worst wide-open shooter in the league (minimum 2.5 attempts per game). His woefulness from beyond the arc makes it difficult for Cleveland to string together runs.

During this game, Osman had a stretch in which he missed back-to-back wide-open triples followed by an ugly turnover. Moments like these are crucial as the Cavaliers can’t afford to leave points on the table.

Then, there’s Jordan Clarkson. In just 18 minutes of playing time, Clarkson managed to jack up 12 field goal attempts. He seemed reluctant to pass and stagnated the entire offense with his 0-for-5 shooting from deep.

The entire roster went through cold stretches in this game. Cleveland will need to minimize these types of runs and find a way to regularly score the ball. Without some consistency on offense, the Cavaliers will drop a ton of games this season.