4. Timofey or Tristan?
There’s no hard-and-fast rule that Lue has to decide on a starting center and stay with him sink or swim. But there hasn’t been much evidence that going back and forth between Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson has worked to the Cavs’ advantage.
Through Thursday night, Mozgov had started in 41 of the 67 games in which he has played. Only five of those came in February, which was Lue’s first full month in charge, and he has played more than 24 minutes a contest just twice since the coaching change. Thompson has almost as many double-doubles (22) as starts (31) and is at ease coming off the bench.
While he doesn’t have to score to be effective, that doesn’t mean Thompson simply doesn’t have to score, as when he went scoreless in 37 minutes last week against the Dallas Mavericks. And with so many teams now going without a center, Lue might be forced to take more of a look at sitting both Mozgov and Thompson while making Love the five.
Next: Eliminate Distractions and Controversies
