Cleveland Cavaliers: The 3 best possible starting lineups
By Ryan Piers
3. Hill, Clarkson, Hood, Love and Thompson
NBA.com provides an incredible, award-winning service. OK, that’s an over-exaggeration. But you can compare any five-man lineup you’d like in the league with this useful mechanism.
It’s tough to find a combination of players more frequently used last season than sets featuring Love (the only guaranteed starter), LeBron James and Jeff Green. Green is now playing in the nation’s capital. Everyone and their mothers knows where James ended up.
The most successful lineup to include Love and a mixture of current players is the aforementioned forward, Hill, Hood and Clarkson. We’ll leave out James, who was also in the bunch.
The four shared the floor once, for eight minutes on a March 25 game against the Brooklyn Nets. The combination erupted for 27 points in the period, shooting a crisp 10-for-14 from the field. Hood, Love and James did most of the work. Hood, especially, was clutch as the group cemented a close win over the hapless Nets.
The sample size is small. But the 27 points in eight minutes was the most Love scored with a combination of at least three remaining players over any period last season. This grouping should jell well — Hill the distributor, Hood the athletic wing and Clarkson the shot creator. Maybe that combo can work with Nance or Cedi Osman as a solid starting group.