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Who Have Been The Biggest X-Factors For The Cleveland Cavaliers In The Playoffs?

By Quenton S. Albertie

Apr 17, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue calls out a play during the first half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 17, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue calls out a play during the first half in game two of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 15, 2017; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue reacts 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 coach Tyronn Lue reacts in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

Tyronn Lue

I’ll bite. I may have been too hard on Tyronn Lue during the regular season. Not that Lue didn’t deserve some of that vitriol and criticism, as he made a couple of questionable decisions with who was in and out of his rotation during the regular season, his experimenting with lineups in-game may have cost the Cleveland Cavaliers a couple of games and his allowance of players to buy into “the switch” enabled their bad habits to an extent.

I also wondered why the offense was so predictable and the defense was so terrible.

However, Lue has righted the ship in many ways. His rotation is fitting for the playoffs, his in-game lineups are fine and he’s demanding that the Cleveland Cavaliers bring it, not just watching them play without focus and motivation. Of course, some of this is due to the fact that the Cleveland Cavaliers are in the playoffs and players really are more focused and motivated and thus playing better.

Lue’s obviously a smart head coach and giving him time to key into teams and how to disrupt their offense is what is the difference between the way the Cleveland Cavaliers defense has played in the playoffs and how they played in the regular season. The Cleveland Cavaliers have four pretty solid defenders in their nine-man rotation and Tyronn Lue using LeBron James as a free safety-like defender, like his own man-zone defense, is interesting as it allows the Cavs to create turnovers and get in transition more than they would be able to with them just trying to stop opposing teams with straight up man-to-man defense.

In general, the Cleveland Cavaliers are playing their men a little tighter, making less mental mistakes on rotations while putting more energy into getting to the right spot on defense on time and they’re creating more turnovers.

On offense, the way he’s using LeBron James, J.R. Smith and Channing Frye is a bit different from how they were used during the regular season. James attacks more, Smith facilitates more, Frye scores from inside the arc a bit more. In addition, the way the Cleveland Cavaliers use the pick-and-roll and utilize Tristan Thompson and James as a scorer and passer is a great contrast for how they use the pick-and-pop or drive-and-kick to set up Smith, Frye, Kyle Korver and Kevin Love behind-the-arc. Mix in James and Kyrie Irving’s ability to score one-on-one and you have yourself a pretty versatile offense.

Related Story: What If The Cleveland Cavaliers Don't Make The NBA Finals

Who do you think the x-factors have been so far during the Cleveland Cavaliers playoff run? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.

*All statistics referenced from www.basketball-reference.com