The Cleveland Cavaliers started off their quest for a championship in style with a dominant 121-100 win over the Miami Heat in game one. Their star backcourt duo Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland led the way with 57 combined points, but Ty Jerome stole the show in his playoff debut with 28 points. Cleveland also played ten players in the opening win, something head coach Kenny Atkinson said he would do.
Under all of the fireworks that the Cavs provided, this game didn’t come without its surprises, with De’Andre Hunter’s ineffectiveness and Evan Mobley’s quiet offensive game being the main ones. There was one rotation surprise though that slid under the rug, but should change in game two.
Kenny Atkinson needs to lean on Dean Wade more in his rotation
Wade hasn’t been healthy for any of the Cavs’ last two postseason appearances and excitement was building for his first healthy playoff run. In the win, Wade only played six and a half minutes, collecting one rebound. Cleveland did outscore Miami by five in Wade’s minutes, which all came in the first half.
Wade’s strengths are exactly what the Cavs need in this series: defense and rebounding. The Heat are likely to ramp up the physicality after losing by 20 and Wade gives Cleveland more size in their frontcourt.
It was surprising to see Wade get a DNP for the second half, especially considering they could have used his defense and three-point shooting. Atkinson went back to Okoro to end the third quarter and begin the fourth quarter and while Okoro did a great job of doing the little things by rebounding and guarding, he went 0-for-four from three. Miami ignored him offensively, a theme for Okoro offensively in the playoffs.
With Wade, the defense has to respect his shot, as he shoots 36 percent from three-point range. Defensively, he does all the things Okoro does and is a bigger body.
It is only one game and the Cavs (hopefully) have a long way to go this playoffs. Wade’s number will be called upon. However, this series calls for Wade’s strengths and especially if Okoro and Hunter aren’t on their A-games, Atkinson will need his burly forward.
Cleveland sported a +11.0 net rating with Wade on the court during the regular season and had a defensive rating of 111.4. Expect Atkinson to make that adjustment for game two.