King James Gospel
Fansided

Cleveland Cavaliers: Lessons from the Cavs 22-point beatdown of Detroit

By Jackson Flickinger

CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 5: LeBron James
CLEVELAND, OH - MARCH 5: LeBron James /
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CLEVELAND, OH – FEBRUARY 27: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers speaks with media after the game against the Brooklyn Nets on February 27, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images)
CLEVELAND, OH – FEBRUARY 27: LeBron James #23 of the Cleveland Cavaliers speaks with media after the game against the Brooklyn Nets on February 27, 2018 at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by David Liam Kyle/NBAE via Getty Images) /

LeBron continues to put defenders on posters.

You can’t say enough about how great James has looked this year. He has proven night after night that he’s still one the most athletic players in the league despite this being his 15th year in the league. Andre Drummond learned that lesson the hard way Monday night.

LeBron’s athleticism has always set him apart from the rest of his competition, and it’s still doing so today. It’s crazy to think that even though he might have lost a step from his athletic prime, he can still dunk over one of the most physical centers in the league.

Larry Nance Jr. should start the rest of the season.

Nance has been phenomenal since coming over from Los Angeles. He took advantage of his opportunity to start by posting 22 points on nine of 15 shooting. That’s not too bad of a first impression.

Nance continues to impress with his athleticism and his ability to run the floor with LeBron. The Cavs outscored the Pistons by 10 when both players shared the floor on Monday. This isn’t a new trend. The Cavs now outscore opponents by 22.2 points per 100 possessions when Nance and James share the court.

Nance’s great play is highlighted more when compared to Thompson’s struggles this year. Thompson simply hasn’t looked like himself all season. He has had a tough time staying healthy and doesn’t appear to be close to 100% when he is on the floor.

Thompson does, however, have a very important role on this team no matter what. He still has the ability to be a highly productive player, but not for 30 minutes a night. Nance is the must better option at this point and should be getting the majority of the minutes at center moving forward.

Must Read: 3 things Cleveland must show fans in their last 20 games

The Cavs will be heading to the west coast for an almost two-week road trip. They will be heading to Denver to take on the Nuggets Wednesday night. We’ll get a much better indication of how much, if any, the defense has improved during that game.