CLEVELAND: After much deliberation between the coaches and players alike, the Cavaliers took what could be a decisive step toward their postseason rotation during Friday’s 108-83 victory against the Washington Wizards.
Less than a week after they were blown off the floor by this team in the nation’s capital, the Cavs blitzed the Wizards with a small-ball lineup that is here to stay. Iman Shumpert replaced Kevin Love in the starting rotation, and while Love will be back Saturday night, Shumpert’s place in the rotation seems secure.
The Cavs are officially trending small, which means LeBron James’ future — at least for now — resides in the post.
James had 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists in his debut as the Cavs’ starting power forward and Kyrie Irving had 21 points and eight assists in the victory, ending the Wizards’ four-game winning streak.
“Just something that our coaching staff has been talking about,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “Just playing small and being faster.”
The small-ball craze is sweeping the league, but in order for the Cavs to play along, it means James playing big minutes in the post. That is something he has resisted throughout his career. He even reiterated within the last couple of weeks he still views himself as a wing player.
Lue said he did not consult with James prior to the lineup switch, but it was right around this time last season that James began drifting into the post more — something he said was necessary as the Cavs began preparing for the playoffs. Now they’re doing it again.
“Last year, we were able to post him a lot in the playoffs and we were able to create double teams and create mismatches and our guys got open shots,” Lue said. “Going forward, we’ll start looking at that and just getting a feel for how we’re going to play, especially if we’re going to play him at [power forward] some.”
Love received the night off to rest. When he returns Saturday against the Boston Celtics, he is likely to be at center with Timofey Mozgov shifting to the bench.
The Cavs’ smaller, sleeker lineup was quicker getting around the floor. They forced the Wizards into 16 turnovers, including nine steals. They had eight steals in the first half, when they took a 17-point lead into the break. They extended it to 83-63 after the third and led by 30 in the fourth quarter, a complete reversal after trailing by 30 to the Wizards in the fourth quarter last weekend.
Shumpert has been in a shooting slump much of the season and it continued Friday. He missed all three of his shots and finished with two points from the free-throw line. The Cavs, however, are more concerned with Shumpert’s defensive ability than his scoring.
Mozgov had 14 points and five rebounds in what could be his last start for a while, J.R. Smith scored 10 points and Matthew Dellavedova scored 12 points off the bench.
The Wizards’ John Wall had 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists after he had 21 points and 13 assists in three quarters last Sunday.
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.