Written by J.D. Shultz

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The Cleveland Cavaliers (17-7) are 24 games into the 82 game schedule, which means it's time for our inaugural 29.3% of the Way Through the Regular Season Stat Check. We thought this would be a good time to take a moment and dig up some stats . . . to share a few interesting facts and oddities that you may not have realized, while watching the individual games. Enter J.D. Shultz, to take a look at the Cavaliers, by the numbers, through the first 24 games of the season. The Cleveland Cavaliers (17-7) are 24 games into the 82 game schedule, which means it's time for our inaugural 29.3% of the Way Through the Regular Season Stat Check.

We thought this would be a good time to take a moment and dig up some stats . . . to share a few interesting facts and oddities that you may not have realized, while watching the individual games. 

Here we go:

#1.)  The Cavs have three of the NBA's top 20 three-point shooters.  Anthony Parker leads the league with 50% (40-of-80) shooting . . . Daniel Gibson is fifth, shooting 48.6% (34-of-70) from beyond the arc . . . and Mo Williams comes in at #17 at 44.2% (57-of-129).

However, of the NBA's top 50 three-point shooters, AP comes in dead last in shooting percentage on two-point shots.  He only connects on 34.3% of his shots inside the arc.

#2.)  As a team, the Cavaliers rank 2nd among the NBA's 30 teams in three-point shooting.  They hit 42.2% from long-range, which is behind Phoenix (42.7%) but ahead of San Antonio (39.2%).

#3.)  When teams play the Cavaliers, they do not share Cleveland's success from outside.  The Cavs are allowing their opponents to shoot just 33.1% on 3s.  That's eighth in the NBA.

#4.)  The Cavaliers free throw shooting ranks 24th in the league.  Not surprisingly, Mo Williams leads the team with 92.3% from the stripe . . . followed by Delonte West (87%) and Jamario Moon (84.6%).  LeBron is fifth on the team at 78.3%.

Shaq is shooting 45.1% at the line.  That's the lowest percentage on the team, obviously . . . and thankfully.  Next worst is Anderson Varejao at 61.5%.

#5.)  Despite all the seemingly off-and-on defense the Cavs have been playing, they are holding opponents to just 94.4 points per game.  That's fourth in the NBA.

They score an average of 99.7 points a game, which is 16th in the league.

#6.)  This still seems pretty hard to believe:  Zydrunas Ilgauskas has the lowest shooting percentage on the team.  He is shooting 40.5% from the field.  Next worst is AP, whose two-point attempts bring him down to an overall percentage of 42.7%.

Maybe they both should just stick to shooting 3s.  AP hits 50% and Z hits 100%.  He's 1-of-1 on the season.

The best shooting percentage belongs to J.J. Hickson, who is making 56.5% of his shots.

#7.)  As of December 9th, Andy had the team's highest plus/minus rating.  When he's on the court, the Cavs are +159 over their opponents.  LeBron is second with +155.  And interestingly enough, Z is third at +75.

Of the Cavs 10 rotation players, the lowest plus/minus rating belongs to Shaquille O'Neal.  Over the season, the Cavs are -5, or have been out-scored by five points in all the time he's been on the floor.  Next lowest is J.J.  The Cavs are +9 overall with him on the floor.

#8.)  According to 82games.com, the two most productive Cavs five-man units in the first part of the season are:  (1)  Boobie, Delonte, LeBron, Andy, Z.  And (2) Mo, Delonte, LeBron, Andy, Z.

As you can tell, both those lineups are completely comprised of players the Cavs had last season.  There are two ways to look at that, one bad and one good.  On one hand, that isn't exactly a ringing endorsement of Shaq and AP's play. 

But on the other hand, it seems obvious that lineups with established chemistry would be consistently more successful than ones with a new player who hasn't fully meshed in yet.

#9.)  The Cavs are 28th in the league in offensive rebounding at 8.8 a game.  They're fifth in defensive rebounding, with 31.9 a game . . . and 17th in overall rebounding, with 41.5 a game.

#10.)  Cleveland ranks fourth in the NBA with 27 technical fouls.  Is that a bad thing?  Maybe not.  The three teams ahead of them are Orlando (32), Boston (31) and the L.A. Lakers (28).