Five Bold Predictions for the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Stretch Run

Published by

Brad Sullivan

10 years ago

5. Tristan Thompson Will Average 70 Percent at the Foul Line

One of the knocks on Tristan Thompson (besides his lack of scoring punch) during his career has been his mediocre free-throw percentage, which is currently at 62 percent. However, over the past 15 games, he’s connected on just over 72 percent of his attempts at the foul line. In six of those games, Thompson never even got to the line, but in the other nine matchups, he hasn’t missed more than two attempts in a game

For the season, he’s broken past that 70 percent mark in 19 games, with the Cavs having 21 games left to play. Since he hasn’t gotten to the line in about a quarter of those games, that means he should have opportunities in at least 15 other contests. The view from here is that he’ll be able to maintain that touch.

All of these may be criticized as being seen from an optimistic perspective, however none of them can be considered to be out of the realm of possibility. Should most, if not all, take place, the Cavaliers will forge ahead into the postseason in position to make their move.

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Brad Sullivan

Brad Sullivan is a lead writer for Cavaliers Nation. He has spent much of life in the Cleveland, Ohio area, and has remained a Cavalier fan from their 1970 beginnings through the return of LeBron James. While that fandom was sorely tested during the Reign of Error known simply by one word, Stepien, that overall historical perspective will be part of his writing for Cavaliers Nation in the months ahead.