The Cleveland Cavaliers are down 0-2 in another playoff series. Sound familiar? Yeah, because the Cavs were in the same spot against the Pistons in the last round and actually came back and won.
Now, Cleveland heads home looking to trim New York’s series lead to 2-1 in the Conference Finals and come back from yet another 0-2 playoff deficit.Â
If they could have closed out Game 1, the Cavs would be heading home with the series tied 1-1. But as Jarrett Allen said during his postgame presser after Game 2, this team likes to keep it interesting, a theme that has followed them this playoffs.
Cleveland needs to pull out all the stops to win Game 3, as no team in NBA history has come back from an 0-3 series deficit. In order to do that, they need to make one rotation change.
The Cavs need to give Jaylon Tyson a longer runway in Game 3 against the Knicks
Coming into the postseason, it looked like Tyson wasn’t even guaranteed a rotation spot, despite his stellar regular season. He did crack the initial playoff rotation against the Raptors and was a key piece towards the end of that series.
Tyson fizzled out in the Pistons series, as he was constantly making defensive mistakes, not hitting enough shots, and was overaggressive. There is no doubt that the forward is playoff tough, but he needs to channel that energy and control it.
Tyson was benched for Cleveland’s last three playoff games, but Kenny Atkinson gave him a chance in Game 2. The young forward looked a lot more comfortable in his ten minutes of playing time, finishing with four points and three rebounds. He missed all of his three-point attempts, but all of them were good looks and within the flow of the offense.Â
Tyson also looked very comfortable in the short-roll, a weapon the Cavs need to utilize since the Knicks are almost always going to double team Donovan Mitchell or James Harden. Having someone like Tyson who is comfortable in four-on-three situations will aid their offense.
Tyson has had an up and down playoffs, but seems to be trending in the right direction. He showed throughout the regular season that he can be the perfect reserve forward the rotation needs. He can be the key to Cleveland’s turnaround in this series and has to be given the chance to do so.
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