Cavs: 3 players to watch in second 2019-20 meeting with Heat

Cedi Osman

At this juncture, it’s evident that Tristan Thompson is one of the most important players for the Cleveland Cavaliers and head coach John Beilein, and given that he had only two points and three rebounds in the first meeting against Miami, I’d have put him here as a bounce-back candidate. TT is reportedly out in this one due to rest, though, according to a report from the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s Ira Winderman, and instead I’m inclined to go with Cleveland starting 3 Cedi Osman.

Osman has been pretty solid thus far for the Cavs, albeit in a lower usage role, as he’s had 8.5 points per outing, to go with 3.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists. The key for Cedi, and I’d also see this as the case on Wednesday, is the three ball.

Osman has hit 37.0% of his triples thus far on what would be a career-best 52.4% three-point attempt rate, as documented by Basketball Reference. He’s been at his best when he’s getting his momentum into those looks, which has seemingly led to better rotation.

So, anyhow, in this matchup against the Heat, I highlight Osman as a player to watch given that, due to Thompson being out in this one, Cedi could feasibly slide down to the 4 position a considerable amount. He did so in the Cavs’ last game, and that was because of Love being out.

While the Cavaliers have been at a loss defensively playing more traditional 4’s with Cedi at the 4 dating back to last season, Osman might have to do so in long stretches here, too.

I’d prefer Nance to be matched up at the 4 with talented low-post and mid-range scorer in Heat mostly 4 man Bam Adebayo with Love matched up in more occasions with Miami’s Meyers Leonard or perhaps Kelly Olynyk, but Osman, with TT out, might be on Adebayo more here with Nance reportedly questionable.

TT being out is always going to have a lasting impact, but considering his injury issues in recent seasons, I totally understand where Cleveland’s going in that regard.

Anyway, in the first meeting, Adebayo stuffed the box score with 16 points on 50.0% shooting, to go with 15 rebounds, five assists and a block, as noted by ESPN, but Thompson did pretty well against him.

As referenced by NBA.com’s player matchup data in regards to that game, Adebayo had just two points on one-of-four shooting in roughly 21 possessions with Thompson as his primary defender.

Bam did have two assists, but also had one turnover in that stretch against TT. If Cedi’s matched up a good number of possessions against Adebayo, the Cavs will need to double Adebayo often, quite frankly, and scramble to rotate from there.

On the offensive end, while Cleveland could potentially start Ante Zizic at the 5 with Love at the 4, Zizic’s still getting his legs under him.

He’s only appeared in two games in the 2019-20 season, as he had his debut against Philly on Sunday after coming back from reported plantar fasciitis in his left foot, and I’d imagine Beilein could elect to have him come off the bench, anyway, though, again, perhaps Nance could start (though he’s questionable).

If Osman is lined up at the 4, with perhaps rookie wing Kevin Porter Jr. making his second career start, mostly at the 3 in his minutes, both of those players will need to be hot from three-point land, and be productive ball-movers to negate a size advantage in a good chunk of minutes in favor of Miami.

Those players having active hands in passing lanes off the ball would help them Cleveland and get themselves going potentially, too.

Back to the other end, though, I also wouldn’t love to see too many on-ball screens against Miami. The Heat perimeter defenders get through and/or ice ball screens so well, and Adebayo is more than capable of smothering Osman and even when switching out against guards in those situations.

The Heat have been the third-most effective team in the NBA this season in primary defense against pick-and-roll ball-handlers, according to Synergy Sports.

So I’d love to see Love be active as a screener in flare screens off the ball to get the likes of Osman and/or Sexton open, and not allow perimeter defenders such as Butler and/or undrafted rookie sensation Kendrick Nunn to be aggressive in trapping or icing ball screens. It’d be nice to see Zizic and Love cross screen for each other, too, in some minutes together as the game progresses.