Jeff Green’s Cleveland story can come full circle in the NBA Playoffs

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jeff Green had his life saved by doctors at the Cleveland Clinic. Now thrust into the starting lineup, Green may be the one who saves the life of the Cavaliers’ season.

Heading into the NBA Playoffs, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach made quite the stir when he shook up the lineup. Lue elected to start forward Jeff Green for both the remainder of the regular season and the entirety of the playoffs.

Soon after, NBA Twitter was ablaze bashing Lue for his decision. The whole Green situation was best summed up by Joe Vardon:

There was quite a bit of hyperbole from fans but it was understandable.

Throughout the season Green has been frustratingly inconsistent. Despite his not possessing a strong perimeter game, at 6-foot-9, Green would rather settle for jump shots instead of attacking the basket.

Still, Green decided to block out the haters and has been great since joining the starting unit with averages of 22 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists and is connecting on 71.1 percent of his attempts. He’s even shooting 63.3 from beyond the arc, a summation of his surprising surge.

[Editor’s note: stats do not include Green’s the Cleveland Cavaliers game against the New York Knicks on April 9th]

The Cavaliers will live and die at the hands of LeBron James and Kevin Love in the NBA Playoffs. Nonetheless, they will also need help from players like Green.

Green, as many know, almost died before he came to Cleveland.

If you have not heard the story yet, it’s quite a doozy.

When with the Boston Celtics, Green was found to have a dangerous enlargement of his aorta. Green and the Celtics sought out Dr. Lars Svensson, the top heart surgeon in the country at the Cleveland Clinic.

After a long recovery process, Green hopped around the league and eventually ended up in Cleveland.

He was at first considered a long shot to make the final roster but squeaked by and started off hot to start the season. So much so that Green, along with Dwyane Wade and Kyle Korver, were all part of the best bench in the Association.

Unexpectedly, when Isaiah Thomas returned the team faltered — and so did Green.

Mired in pettiness and mediocrity, general manager Koby Altman blew the team up. According to Green, he thought he might be on his way out too at the trade deadline:

"I mean, yeah, of course. Nobody wants to be traded. I’ve been traded before, right at the deadline – like at 2:59! It’s not an easy thing to wait and see [if you’ll be traded], but this is a business and things happen. It’s out of your control and teams are going to do what’s necessary for them as they try to better their team. It’s definitely an uneasy feeling, when you’re sitting there and waiting. We brought in four new guys that have helped us in what we’re trying to accomplish."

After surviving the roster massacre, the front office showed confidence in Green’s ability.

In turn, Green was asked to serve the roll Jae Crowder could not fulfill.

He has since been a Swiss Army Knife on defense and has made clutch defensive plays on DeMar DeRozan and recently John Wall to secure wins. As mentioned before, Lue elected to start Green and his defense is the key reason.

So, with two games left in the regular season against the New York Knicks, people will be watching Green with bated breath.

If he has an off night people will lavish in criticizing both him and Lue. Even still, as mentioned before, the team needs all the help it can get and Green has proven himself the last few games.

The Cavaliers will likely be facing the Indiana Pacers in round one of the playoffs.

He will once again be asked to step up on defense and help shut down Victor Oladipo. Still, his defense will not only be needed to beat the Pacers.

His recent offensive outburst is vital to the team’s success.

While the team has plenty of lethal scoring options but having a steady one in Green certainly helps. The organization has shown confidence in him and it is starting to pay off in a major way. Green had his life saved while in Cleveland, and now, he will be key in saving the life of the Cavaliers’ season.

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*All stats courtesy of www.basketball-reference.com