Double-Trouble: How TT has changed the tone of the Eastern Conference Finals

Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson has changed the tone of the Eastern Conference Finals with his play on both ends of the court.

Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson has had a resurgent postseason after a rough regular season in which he averaged career-lows in minutes per game (20.2), field goal attempts per game (4.4), offensive rebounds per game (2.4), blocks per game (0.3), points per game (5.8) and games played (52).

He was never fully healthy and he didn’t move as well as he used to.

While his postseason averages are similar to his regular season averages, he’s simply played and moved better throughout the postseason. That’s shown in metrics like PER (13.6 in regular season, 18.5 in postseason), win shares per 48 minutes (.113 in regular season, .191 in postseason) and box plus-minus (-2.5 in the regular season, 1.0 in the postseason).

His play against Al Horford and the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals is just the latest evidence that Double-T has regained both his health and mojo.

Thompson, who was heralded as one of the game’s best offensive rebounders and praised for his lateral movement on the defensive end prior to the season (and rightly so), has made his impact felt on both ends of the court but he’s doing it with more than his usual tricks.

On offense, while Thompson’s offensive rebounding has been superb in the Eastern Conference Finals (he’s averaging 3.3 offensive rebounds per game and grabbing 13.3 percent of all available offensive rebounds), his finishing around the rim (shooting 63.0 percent from the field) and the space he’s creating for both shooters and  LeBron James has been invaluable.

For shooters, Thompson’s gravity inside is such that a player always feels the need to keep a body on Thompson or keep track of where he is. The reason for that is two-fold.

His offensive rebounding prowess and the likelihood that a teammate — namely LeBron — finds him over the top for a lob.

For LeBron, though the space Kevin Love creates for drives and post-ups is more useful, Thompson’s presence inside keeps players from cheating towards him in the post.

Again, with LeBron’s court vision and passing ability, it’s always possible Thompson will be on the receiving end of a lob, bounce pass in the lane or wraparound pass under the rim. That threat has allowed the Cavaliers to prevent the Celtics from doubling him in the post, where they can force a turnover thanks to the Cavaliers habitual lack of off-ball movement.

As the Cavaliers have chosen Celtics guard Terry Rozier to pick on in post-ups against James, the Celtics now have to let Rozier go mano y mano with the King or risk the Cavaliers omniscient superstar finding the open man.

Thompson’s screens also create great space for driving lanes and shooters alike as he makes the most solid contact of any frontcourt player without an All-Star selection among their accolades. Against a tough, physical team like the Celtics, having the strength and physicality to set those kind of screens goes a long way towards helping the Cavaliers offense be effective.

He’s averaging a team-high 4.5 screen assists per game in the Conference Finals, three times as many as Kevin Love and Larry Nance Jr., who are tied for the third-highest average of screen assists in the series (George Hill is second, with 1.8 screen assists per game).

On defense, Thompson’s effectiveness is unmatched. He’s contesting a team-high 10.5 field goal attempts per game and recording a team-high 9.0 boxouts per game while playing outstanding defense against Horford, who has been key to their success throughout the postseason.

Though Horford is averaging 14.3 points per game on 50.0 percent shooting in the series, that success isn’t coming against Thompson.

Per Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz, Thompson is shooting 27.3 percent from the field when guarded by Double-Trouble.

Per Fear The Sword’s Mike Zavagno, Horford has only scored 4.0 points per game against Thompson and he’s been uncharacteristically passive when Thompson is in the game, taking 52.0 percent fewer shot attempts per 100 possessions.

Thompson’s physicality and energy has yet to be matched by Horford and the Cavaliers have went 2-1 in the series after starting Thompson in Game 2.

Despite their having lost with Thompson in the lineup, the Cavaliers have outscored the Celtics by 26 points since Game 2. They were outscored  by 25 points in Game 1.

Thompson has re-emerged as a vital piece of the Cavaliers’ championship hopes as he causes problems for the Celtics on both ends of the floor.

It’s to the point where they might have to gameplan against them if they want to regain control of the series.

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*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com and stats.nba.com