This series has turned into a chess match for Tyronn Lue and the Cleveland Cavaliers. So far, they’ve been winning.
While Tyronn Lue has been criticized pretty heavily throughout his four-year head coaching tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers, his decision-making and adjustments have been the difference maker in this first series. That and the absolute dominance of LeBron James.
Following Oladipo’s 32 points in Game 1, Lue and his staff were forced to figure out a way to contain Indiana’s lone all-star. They decided to blitz him, trap him, and force the ball out of his hands. Oladipo seemed rattled and has clearly not taken well to a more off-the-ball role.
From 32 points to 22 to 18 to 17 to 12, Oladipo’s volume scoring and efficiency have taken a turn for the worse since Game 1. He went from shooting over 50% in both Game 1 and 2 to a combined percentage of just 24% in the Pacers last three games.
That being said, Indiana has still found a way to put the ball in the basket, scoring 95 in their last outing despite just 12 from Oladipo.
With such a balanced team offensively, putting seven in double figures in Game 4, Lue can virtually choose which matchups he wanted to allow Indiana to exploit defensively.
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In Game 5, it seemed like two things were a bit obvious.
Lue made it a point to run Darren Collison, the Pacers best three-point shooter percentage-wise, off the line. He ended with just four points and one three-point attempt. It wasn’t just Collision, it was all the Pacers shooters. Indiana ended the game with just 20 three-point attempts, their lowest total of the series and their 12th lowest of the season.
The other adjustment was Lue was willing to let Sabonis/Thaddeus operate in the post on a smaller defender following a pick-and-roll. It seemed like half the time it was a Sabonis screen and it ended up being Sabonis with Clarkson or another guard on him in the post with little help.
However, lacing the court with shooters and allowing a big go to work is exactly how the Cavs play and Indiana seems to be adopting that strategy a bit, playing their man shot blocker, Myles Turner, just 21 minutes. Young and Sabonis finished the game with a combined 38 points, still six fewer than LeBron. They did shoot a remarkable 16-for-21 from the field with just one three-point attempt between the duo.
Lue made it clear that he wasn’t going to be beaten from the perimeter. Indiana ended up shooting 12 threes fewer than Cleveland, and Lue opted to allow their post presence it eat the Cavs smaller defenders up. For most of the game, it seemed to work, as the Cavs were able to make several 10+ point comebacks with their shooting.
As the series heads back to Indiana and the Cavs are up 3 games to 2, it’ll be crucial that they allow players other than Oladipo, Collison, and Bogdanovic to beat them. As we’ve seen this series, as long as Cleveland forces them off the three-point line, they should be fine.
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Allowing Young/Sabonis/Turner to beat you is certainly the gameplan moving forward.