Tristan Thompson Is The X-Factor For The Cavaliers Against Boston

Against the smaller Boston Celtics, Tristan Thompson should have a field day for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Give the Boston Celtics a ton of credit for what they’ve done this season. Getting the top seed  in the Eastern Conference was a heck of an accomplishment. That said, the Cleveland Cavaliers are just a better team and it’s that simple. Cleveland has the size advantage at almost every position, and with their spacing on the floor, the C’s will have a rough go of it. That spacing is where Tristan Thompson comes in.

The Celtics were 26th in the NBA in the regular season in rebounding. In the playoffs, they have been the worst defensive rebounding club in the East. They just don’t have a lot of size in the frontcourt.

Al Horford is a very good player in this league, but he’s more of a finesse guy. Tristan could overwhelm him on the offensive glass with his strength and quickness.

Amir Johnson plays like more of a rebounding big, but he’s not a guy who will play many minutes and he’s ended up averaging 2.1 rebounds in 11.0 minutes per game.

What’s the next option? A guy like Kelly Olynyk? Well as long as Olynyk doesn’t dislocate Thompson’s shoulder, he’s not handling him for long stretches of this series.

Thompson will be able to feast on the glass with the Cavs perimeter threats and LeBron drawing so much attention. With Boston’s defense having to help off-ball to closeout on J.R. Smith, Kyle Korver and company Double-T will only be battling one guy on many occasions.

I’ll take that matchup ten times out of ten; the postseason statistics demonstrate that Double-T is winning these battles at such an efficient clip.

Thompson is on pace to have playoff highs in offensive rebounding and total rebounding percentage. His 10.6 rebounds per game leads the Cavs this postseason, and his ability to keep possessions alive gives Cleveland’s dangerous shooters more chances.

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Those extra chances tangibly help the Cavs in the box score. Thompson’s plus/minus of +7.5 is the best of his playoff career to date, and he also is just behind LeBron with a net rating of 14.2.

The reason for that mark has been Double-T’s defense. I

t’s no surprise that he’s getting it done on that end, due to his versatility and competitiveness. Thompson has the best defensive rating on the Cavs this postseason and with the way he alters shots and gets in passing lanes, he could really wreak havoc against Boston’s smaller slashers. He was active both in the paint and in pick-and-roll switchouts against Toronto and will play a big role against Boston with his length and lateral quickness to get out to shooters.

Considering the Cavs handled Boston on the glass in their last meeting of the regular season without Thompson, imagine how much they’ll control the boards with him. The C’s are tough but there’s no way they can handle Double-T for 48 minutes throughout the course of the series..

That chalks up yet another mismatch in favor of the more talented Cavs.

Another problem the Celtics have?

The more the C’s have to focus on the defensive glass, the less they’ll be able to get out in transition. Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley do not want to have to score shooting over longer Cavs defenders all series but because they’ll have all kinds of problems with both Tristan and Kevin Love in the paint, the little guys will have to help more on the boards.

That means IT have to work even harder for his buckets while already being the only guy that really can break down the Cavs defense.

The Boston Celtics have no answer for Double-T. He’s about to have his way with them.

Related Story: 5 Keys for the Cleveland Cavaliers to defeat the Boston Celtics

What do you expect from Tristan Thompson this series? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section o Twitter @KJG_NBA.