After his opening defeat against the Boston Celtics, Tyronn Lue is apparently considering changing his lineup for Game 2 (live on DAZN from 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday). Specifically, the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers is considering letting Tristan Thompson start as a classic center.
“If we look at the statistics of the last three years, of all the guys who defended Al Horford for at least 30 ball possessions, Tristan Thompson is the number one in the league,” Lue told ESPN.
The five-time all-star Horford showed an outstanding game in game 1: 20 points with 8/10 goals from the field, six assists, four rebounds and two blocks stood for him at the end on the scoreboard. His primary defender Kevin Love seemed to be overwhelmed with the 31-year-old.
Lue explained that he was thinking about bringing the 27-year-old center into Game 2 from the beginning. Kevin Love would slide onto the 4 ball and LeBron James onto the 3 ball, complemented by JR Smith on the 2 ball and George Hill on the 1st Kyle Korver as usual.
He had these considerations even before the start of the series, but decided against it because of the successes in the last games. “We weighed it before the series, but we had won seven of the eighth games and didn’t want to change anything until a team beat us,” continued the head coach.
Thompson already started in Game 7 of the Pacers series and was instrumental in getting the Cavs into the Conference Semifinals with his commitment and an important double-double (15 points, 10 assists).