The Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to make a big push for the top of the Eastern Conference after they made a couple of big trades before the trade deadline. In a surprising turn of events, the Cavaliers got rid of many players, including Dwyane Wade and Isaiah Thomas. While Cleveland didn't get much in return for Wade, the team received Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson for Thomas from the Los Angeles Lakers.
Nance Jr. and Clarkson came off the bench in their first game for the Cavaliers, but head coach Tyronn Lue decided to use one newcomer in the starting five, George Hill.
The lineup worked perfectly well as the starters combined for 69 points and the Cavaliers beat the Boston Celtics by 22 points. The team will travel to Oklahoma City for their next game, and it turns out that Lue will stick to the same starting lineup.
Starting five against Thunder
For the first game since the trade deadline, Tyronn Lue used LeBron James, J.R. Smith, Tristan Thompson, Cedi Osman, and Hill in the starting lineup. James had another amazing performance as he was two rebounds away from another triple-double, while Osman scored 12 points in his second NBA start. Thompson had a mediocre performance with 6 points and 4 rebounds in 27 minutes of action.
The Cavaliers got 12 points and 3 rebounds from Hill, while Smith went off for 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting.
The bench was great too, and Jordan Clarkson led the second unit with 17 points on 11 shots. Rodney Hood, another player the Cavaliers traded for recently, added 15 points off the bench.
Lue says #Cavs staying with same starting lineup. More Cedi.
— Tom Reed (@treed1919) February 12, 2018
At the end, Cleveland blew the Celtics out, and coach Lue loved what his team did.
Because of this, the coach decided to stick to the same lineup and see how it works. The Thunder will be a tough opponent, especially at home where they are 20-9 this season. On the other side, the Cavaliers have struggled playing on the road and have lost 15 of their 28 games when playing away from home.
Playoff picture
The Cavaliers are currently 33-22 and in the third spot in the East.
They are 5.5 games behind the Celtics and 6 games behind the best team in the East, the Toronto Raptors. Considering there are 27 games left to play in the season, there is no doubt that Cleveland can make a strong push to the top, but it may not be worth it.
There are many great teams in the conference right now, and even the first-seeded team will face a tough opponent in the first round of the playoffs. The Cavaliers might be better off resting their players and preparing for the postseason as anything less than a championship will be considered a failure.
