King James Gospel
Fansided

Cleveland Cavaliers: 9 Things We Learned From Game One Against the Indiana Pacers

By Jackson Flickinger

Apr 15, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a dunk in the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a dunk in the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 10
Next
Apr 5, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard JR Smith (5) reacts after his three point basket against the Boston Celtics in the second half at TD Garden. The Cavaliers defeated the Celtics 114-91. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard JR Smith (5) reacts after his three point basket against the Boston Celtics in the second half at TD Garden. The Cavaliers defeated the Celtics 114-91. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /

1. The Cavs will guard Paul George with J.R. Smith.

George is one of the best players in the league and easily the most dynamic player for Indiana. Containing George is key for the Cavs’ success this series.

James is the most qualified player to guard George. He is the only Cavalier with the size and quickness to guard him. That being said, it isn’t ideal for your superstar to carry the load on both ends of the floor all game.

Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers /

Cleveland Cavaliers

The Pacers elected to have George guard James the entire game. Cleveland opted to have Smith guard George throughout the game.

Indiana does an excellent job of setting off and on ball screens for George. His defender is required to fight through multiple screens in order to keep up with him.

Smith has arguably the most important job for Cleveland in the series. He did a solid job of guarding George in Game 1. George finished with 29 points on 9 of 19 shooting. Those are good numbers, but considering how heavily the Pacers rely on George it’s enough to get Cleveland the win.

Smith did a good job of trapping George twice on the final possession of the game. Smith also showed that he has the ability to fight through the screens when he needs to.

Smith struggled mightily on defense to finish the regular season. He can change that narrative if he continues to play solid defense like he did in Game 1.

Every game in the playoffs are different. It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone if Coach Lue decides to go away from having Smith guard George.