Cavaliers need Sam Merrill in the playoffs
Merrill’s shooting could prevent the Cavs half-court offense from stalling in the playoffs.
The Orlando Magic aren’t the New York Knicks. But they will cause similar problems for the Cleveland Cavaliers and their guards in the half-court offense.
Orlando finished with the second-best defense and has the height and physicality to make things difficult. Sam Merrill could help alleviate some of those issues this time around.
The Knicks stifled the Cavs pick-and-roll game by bringing two defenders to the level of the screen. This required the guards to give it up early and trust the bigs to make a play or try to take on the double-team themselves. Neither option worked. The Cavs didn’t have many counters given how pick-and-roll heavy they were last season.
Cedi Osman was forced into playoff action to give the offense some life against the Knicks. One of the ways he did this was by setting screens and ghost screens for the guards. New York couldn’t trap as easily, and if they did, Osman could catch and shoot while being one pass away from the guard being doubled. This was a stark contrast from when the ball was forced to Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley who couldn’t make plays from where they caught the ball.
Osman being a streaky shooter and his teammates not capitalizing on the opportunities he created were two of the many reasons why Osman wasn’t suited for this role.
Merrill, however, is. He’s been doing actions like this all season. Merrill’s quick trigger, ability to quickly find open space and 40.4% three-point shooting make him a better fit for this role.
Orlando’s defense is similar to the Cavs’ in many ways. Both try to run opponents off the three-point line and funnel them inside to their bigs. This can sometimes leave you vulnerable to hot shooting nights when your perimeter defenders are constantly getting sucked into the paint and then have to rotate back out. This is why opponents are shooting 37.7% against the Cavs and 36.7% against the Magic from distance.
Merrill, in particular, has played well against Orlando. He’s 11-19 (57.9%) from beyond the arc this season in the three games he played against them. The Magic struggled with Merrill’s off-ball movement — which allowed him to create open looks in a variety of ways that should also translate to a playoff series.
Despite the Cavs need for shooting in a series that’s expected to be a half-court slog, Bickerstaff will likely be hesitant to give Merrill minutes given his defense-first mindset. This would be a mistake. Merrill is a good team defender but can be beaten in one-on-one matchups in space. Teams like the Los Angeles Clippers and Boston Celtics, who thrive on spacing the floor and creating mismatches, have proven to be poor matchups for him.
The Magic aren’t that. They’re first in shots at the rim as an offense and 27th in three-point attempts. The guards will be responsible for providing resistance to Orlando’s guards when they try to get into the paint and will then need to rotate out to the perimeter once their matchup has been passed off to one of the bigs. This is something Merrill has no issues doing.
Merrill’s health is a question mark as he missed Cleveland’s final three games with a neck injury. Bickerstaff mentioned before Sunday’s game that he’s hopeful Merrill will be good to go for the start of the playoffs.
The Cavs will need all the shooting they can get in their series against the Magic.There’s no reason Merrill shouldn’t be in the rotation this series provided he’s healthy.