Jaylen Brown leads Celtics to another surprising win over Cavaliers

Cleveland's shooting has fallen off this season

Last season, the Cavaliers had the league's top offensive rating. This year, they're 14th. The biggest reason is that they're not making shots.

Cleveland's three-point percentage has dipped from 38.3 percent to 35.4 percent, and its overall field-goal percentage dropped from 49.1 percent to 46 percent. Those numbers are both in the bottom half of the NBA, and the Cavs are the fifth-worst free-throw shooting team in the league (75.7 percent).

What's changed? One is the unavailability of their best outside shooter, Darius Garland, who played only his seventh game of the season Sunday after a toe injury sidelined him for months.

Starting small forward Max Strus has been injured all season long after shooting 38.9 percent from deep last season. His replacement, De'Andre Hunter, scored eight points and was -31 against the Celtics in a two-point loss. He's shooting only 33 percent on threes. The team also misses departed super-sub Ty Jerome, who shot 43.9 percent on threes and finished third in the Sixth Man of the Year voting.

As a result, Donovan Mitchell is carrying the offense by himself, averaging 29.9 points and sinking more than four three-pointers a game, both career highs. But it's a heavy load on Mitchell, compared to last season's more egalitarian offense.

Maybe Cleveland just needs to get their roster healthy to get its offense together. But the undermanned Celtics have hardly missed a beat on the offensive end, and that's why they're nipping at the Cavaliers' heels in the East.