INDIANAPOLIS: Jack Nicholson will be thrilled next month when the Cavaliers visit Staples Center. He’ll finally have a good view of the court.
Nicholson famously stood up from his courtside seat to scream at coach David Blatt during the Cavaliers’ game against the Lakers last season because Blatt was standing up and constantly blocking Nicholson’s view of the game. Lue is proving to be that unique coach who rarely stands during games.
“Those people buying those great front-row seats, you don’t want to be standing up in their way the whole time,” Lue joked Monday. “They paid a lot of money for those seats. I’d rather not stand up. I don’t like being seen that much. I really don’t.”
Three knee surgeries, including two microfracture surgeries, have made it painful for Lue to get up multiple times and stand for long periods of time. That’s why he sits on a cushion during games and is constantly changing the positions of his legs. Also, as a former player, he believes the bulk of the work is done at practice.
“We do all the teaching and coaching in practice,” he said. “Then when we get to the game, guys should know what they’re doing. If I have to stand up and say something, I will.”
Getting defensive
As Lue works to quicken the Cavs’ tempo on offense, the defensive numbers have slipped. Teams are scoring more against the Cavs and shooting a higher percentage. The Cavs ranked in the top 10 in defensive field-goal percentage under Blatt (44.1 percent), but they rank in the bottom 10 since the coaching change (47.3 percent) entering Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers.
One component that has remained constant, however, is 3-point shooting. The Cavs are keeping teams from making a high number of 3s, which is most important to Lue.
“Offensively if you push the ball and score at a high pace like we’ve been doing, then teams are going to get more shots at the basket,” Lue said. “If a team shoots 47, 48 percent from the field but they only make five or six 3s, then I’m pleased with that. Now if a team shoots 48 [percent] from the field and they’re making 12 or 13 3s, then you’ve had a bad defensive night.”
LeBron James, who typically has his own opinions of what constitutes a good defensive performance, deferred to his coach. James has been pummeled publicly recently over his relationship with coaches and seems to be cognizant of that now.
“Whatever coach says,” James said. “Coach is going to look at the film, I’m going to look at the film as well. But if he says we played hard then we had a great defensive game and we go by that.”
Dribbles
• J.R. Smith (1,576) began the night two 3-pointers shy of passing former teammate Mike Miller for 18th place on the all-time list.
• James began the night 38 points shy of passing Kevin Garnett (26,071) for 16th all-time.
• Kevin Love entered the night 44 points shy of 9,000 for his career.
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.