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

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

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 /

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Mar 24, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert (4) reacts to a foul call in the second half against the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center. The Cavs defeated the Hornets 112-105. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /

2. Iman Shumpert doesn’t seem to be in the playoff rotation.

Match-ups and rotations in the playoff change all the time. Coach Lue played only four players off the bench in Game 1. Shumpert was not one of those four.

Shumpert struggled down the stretch of the regular season. Lue elected to go with Richard Jefferson and Deron Williams over Shumpert. Shumpert, who averaged 25.5 minutes per game, was on track for one his best seasons before the All-Star break.

What happened? This is the same player that almost averaged double figures for the entire month of January. He is suddenly out of the rotation after a lackluster April in which he scored just 5.4 points per game. In general, we should have expected this when the Cavs decided to bring in Korver.

Considering Shumpert’s recent play, this may be something we see throughout the remainder of the playoffs.