Since Kenny Atkinson arrived in Cleveland two summers ago, he has always said one thing: “We have to celebrate our depth.”
Through his first two seasons with the Cavaliers, that has been the case. Atkinson was a huge reason Ty Jerome broke out last year, and guys like Sam Merrill, and Jaylon Tyson have become huge parts Cleveland’s rotation and more well-rounded players.
Even end of bench guys like Craig Porter Jr. and Nae’Qwan Tomlin have shown promise to become key pieces in the future. Then you have the veterans like Max Strus and Dean Wade that have been around, but provide stability on both ends of the floor, and in the case of Strus, emotional leadership.
This playoffs though, Cleveland’s role guys have been up and down. They are going to need to find some level of consistency if they want to come back from another 0-2 deficit.
The Cavs have to take advantage of their bench against the Knicks
For as good as New York has been through the first two games, their bench as not produced as much. The Knicks had 21 bench points in Game 1 and 12 bench points in Game 2. Their starters are doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
On Cleveland’s side, they had 25 bench points in Game 1 and 17 bench points in Game 2. So while that still isn’t great, the Cavs are getting slightly more from their bench than the Knicks are. But, that advantage has to increase.
Both Merrill and Strus have been snipers throughout the postseason, but struggled mightily in New York. Merrill especially had a hot first game, but missed all seven of his threes in Game 2, and most of them were good looks.
They have both been reliable snipers for Cleveland throughout the playoffs and the offense is better when one or both of them are on the court. So that cold shooting likely won’t continue. The Cavs are also going to need more from Dennis Schroder and Jaylon Tyson.
Cleveland is at its best when they get contributions from their others. The reason they came back in the Detroit series was because of Strus, Merrill, and Schroder providing timely plays when they needed it. The Cavs need those three and it looks like Tyson is going to get another shot at playing time, so he needs to produce with that group as well.
Cleveland has put a lot on the shoulders of their Big 4 in Mitchell, Harden, Mobley, and Allen. For the most part, they have all delivered. Now, they need their role guys to step up and help them get back into this series and push the Knicks.
Add us as a preferred source on Google