Cleveland Cavaliers: 3 takeaways from loss to Spurs
By Ryan Piers
2. Rotation needs some work
Each one of the starters posted a plus/minus of at least -8. Ditto for most of the bench. Without LeBron on the floor, Cleveland seemed completely out of sorts.
The team was creamed with LeBron on the floor, syphoning 14 straight points to start the fourth quarter. It’s not that Clarkson, Jeff Green and Kyle Korver are bad (although we will talk about that later on) but they are at their best with a drive-and-kick player on the floor.
Without LeBron creating looks, the crew looked lost, and when LeBron played, he often struggled to jell with J.R. Smith. All of this leads to rotation questions.
Larry Nance Jr had best plus-minus on #Cavs but played just 15 minutes. Five Takes, my Dribbles on Ty Lue, and much more soon on AmicoHoops.
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) February 25, 2018
https://twitter.com/CavsSportsTalk/status/967895294632452098
Head coach Tyronn Lue needs to experiment with his lineup. Apart from the LeBron, Green is the only other wing that regularly gets to the paint, averaging 2.4 shots under five feet per game. That means Green must act as a quasi-LeBron when The King is benched, taking on the role of the drive-and-kick guy. Right now he’s hanging around the perimeter.
Despite his finishing ability, Nance lacks the size to defend the post. So with Thompson on the bench, Cleveland needs to match Nance with Green and James to compensate for the lack of size.