Wake up! The Trail Blazers have long proved that the double-short lineup of the backcourt is not working

In September 2022, the Jazz reached a deal with the Cavaliers, and the Jazz gave Mitchell, who obtained Colin Sexton, Markanen and Abakki from the Cavaliers, including three unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, as well as first-round pick swap rights in 2026 and 2028.

22-23 season

The Cavaliers officially formed a double-gun combination of Garland and Mitchell. Allen and Mobley were in the inside, but there was no qualified starting small forward in this lineup, so Mitchell was eliminated 1-4 by the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs in his first season after he came to the Cavaliers.

23-24 season

Because they were eliminated in the first round of last season, they used a four-year, $62.3 million contract to grab the small forward Struce from the Heat who had just reached the finals with the team. He signed small forward Rogerm for another two years and $4.63 million. They did go further this year, eliminating the Magic 4-3 in the first round, but in the second round of the playoffs, they met the later champion of the Celtics and were eliminated 4-1. However, because Allen was injured in the first round in the playoffs this year, it does not mean the true strength of the Cavaliers.

24-25 season

After two seasons of running-in, the Cavaliers' main lineup has reached its best form. The regular season started with a 15-game winning streak. In order to fight against the Celtics' double Tanhua and the Knicks' forward group in the playoffs, the Cavaliers once again traded the Hawks' small forward Hunter in the mid-season. In the end, the Cavaliers beat the defending champion Celtics with a record of 64 wins and 18 losses, ranking first in the East.

In the first round of the playoffs, facing the Heat without Butler, the Cavaliers easily swept their opponent 4-0. But Garland only played two games due to injury.

But in the second round, the Cavaliers were in big trouble again, and the Pacers were the first to get the series match point, and they were behind 1-3 in a big score. If you can still play back and forth in the first three games, then the fourth game will lose without any power to fight back. At the end of the first half, he was already 39-80 and 41 points behind. The worse news is that Mitchell did not return to the court in the second half due to injury.

Why does the Cavaliers' lineup look very strong and won't work as soon as they arrive in the playoffs?

In fact, the Trail Blazers have long given the answer. The Trail Blazers' Lillard and McCollum combination were very famous backcourt double guns back then. - 2014: The Trail Blazers lost 1-4 to the Spurs in the second round. During the nine years they worked together, most of the playoffs were eliminated in the first round, and the last time was that they were swept out after reaching the Western Conference Finals.

- 2015: The Trail Blazers lost 1-4 to the Grizzlies in the first round.

- 2016: The Trail Blazers lost to the Warriors 1-4 in the second round.

- 2017: The Trail Blazers were swept 0-4 by the Warriors in the first round.

- 2018: The Trail Blazers were swept 0-4 by the Pelicans in the first round.

- 2019: The Western Conference Finals were swept 0-4 by the Warriors.

- 2020: The Trail Blazers lost 1-4 to the Lakers in the first round.

- 2021: The Trail Blazers lost to the Nuggets 2-4 in the first round.

Lillard averaged 25.1 points per game in his career and shot 37.1% from three-pointers. McCollum averaged 19.6 points per game and shot 39.7% from three-pointers. It can be said that the offensive firepower of the two of them can be ranked first in history. However, because they are too short, Lillard is 1.88 meters and McCollum is 1.91 meters, and the defensive end is too easy to be targeted, so that the team's forward and inside line need to be fixed at all times. All they can do is rely on strong offensive firepower to make up for their defensive disadvantages, but once they can't find it, losing is inevitable.

The Cavaliers' backcourt double guns are the same problem. Garland is even only 1.85 meters and Mitchell is 1.91 meters. Their offensive firepower is far from reaching the level of Trail Blazers' double guns in the backcourt. Their offensive firepower can't make up for the explanation on the defensive end. Even if he was lucky enough to pass the Pacers, he could not resist the unlimited singles against Celtics' double-Tanhua.

Double short in the backcourt or if both of them have loopholes in the defensive end, such a lineup will not work. Not to mention the Trail Blazers' double shots in the backcourt, this year Doncic was defeated by the Timberwolves like Rivers.