Grading Tyronn Lue’s 1st Playoff Game as Head Coach

Tyronn Lue has been in the NBA Playoffs before but never as the Head Coach. Grading his first Playoff Game as a Head Coach:

The Cleveland Cavaliers won a very tough game against the Detroit Pistons. The visiting 8th seed shot lights out and gave the Cavs all they can handle. The 106 – 101 win may have created concerns for fans but should it impact how we grade Lue?

The Pistons were led by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris. The two combined for 41 points making 7 three pointers between them and getting to the free throw line 10 times. Combined the rest of the Pistons made 8 shots from deep and got to the foul line only 6 times.

The Cavs decided to often double the Pistons best players, Reggie Jackson and Andre Drummond, especially when Jackson was running the pick and roll. Jackson still got 17 points and Drummond got 13, but it wasn’t easy for them. Lue almost exclusively went to doubling the PnR in the 2nd half to some very good success.

Lue’s decision to let the “other guys” beat them looked like a problem as the Pistons took an early lead and held onto it into the 2nd half. Then regression to the mean took over and the Detroit came back down to earth.

All and all, Lue’s philosophy seemed to work. Not overly surprising as he was the defensive coach for Doc Rivers for a few years.

Lue’s rotations on the other hand, left something to be desired. There were times that Kyrie Irving was joined on the court by 4 players that would either be considered defensive players or limited players: Matthew Dellavedova, Richard Jefferson, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov. A terrible lineup, it

A terrible lineup, it played the 4th most minutes of any group of 5 and had the worst plus/minus of any lineup the Cavs ran out there.

Playing Mozgov and Jefferson over sweet shooting Channing Frye didn’t make any sense throughout the game. Timo wasn’t even used against the strong Drummond and Jefferson was often playing the 4, which Frye is far more capable of playing.

Finding room for the Cavs new Stretch 4 would have been helpful when either Irving or James were the only one of the Big 3 on the floor. He could have also paired with Kevin Love to give the Cavs some options inside-out.

Hopefully Lue can figure out his rotations quickly or the Cavs could have some frustrations. The Cavs role players struggled in Game 1, the unusual rotations could be part of the problem.

There was one rotation decision that turned out perfectly for Lue: Playing Love at the 5 and late in the game. Five of the Cavs six lineups that had a positive plus/minus included Love. Even better, Love was able to play a huge role from start to finish.

Early in the game, Lue made sure to get Love the ball in the block when guarded by the smaller Pistons. Then later in the game, with Drummond on him, Love made his money from deep.

Letting Love finish the game, as well as play minutes there throughout the game, at center was huge:

We all remember the drama of Love sitting out 4th quarters due to a bad matchup or his defensive limitations. In Game 1, Love was aggressive on both ends of the floor and allowed Lue to play Tristan Thompson a starter low 30 minutes in the game. Love’s stat line was just amazing: 28 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal while hitting 50% of his 8 shots from deep.

More from King James Gospel

• 3 possible starting lineups for Cleveland Cavaliers in 2023-24
• The Cavaliers may have snagged a hidden gem in Craig Porter Jr.
• 4 players the Cavaliers should pursue in 2024 free agency
• 6 players Cavaliers might replace Jarrett Allen with by the trade deadline
• This stat is one to keep an eye on for Cavaliers’ Max Strus in years ahead

Love’s stat line was just amazing: 28 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal while hitting 50% of his 8 shots from deep.

If Lue gets dinged for his strange rotations, he also gets credit for putting Love in position to be successful on both ends of the court.

And sticking with him when the game was on the line.

A couple of plays out of timeouts and inbound plays were also impressive, credit goes to Lue and the coaching staff for those as well.

For his first game in the NBA Playoffs, Tyronn Lue had his share of good and bad. Winning cures a lot of ills and masks some of the concerns.

All and all, Lue deserves a solid C in his debut. With a couple days off before Game 2, how Lue makes adjustments will be just as big and deserving of grading as well.

What grade would you give Tyronn Lue in his debut as a Head Coach in the NBA Playoffs?