On Tuesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers are facing off against the Boston Celtics for the second time this preseason.
The actual players they will be facing in Tuesday’s tilt, however, will be quite different from the players they played against in their lopsided defeat over the weekend.
That’s because a number of key Celtics players did not make the trip to Cleveland.
Gordon Hayward* instead of Enes Kanter's clone.
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) October 15, 2019
Essentially, the entire Celtics starting unit will not be in the building for Tuesday’s game. It’s not all that surprising considering how close the team is to its first meaningful matchup, but it certainly changes things for Cavs head coach John Beilein.
Most likely, this matchup will offer Beilein and the rest of the coaching staff an opportunity to better evaluate their young players as well as the players currently fighting for a roster spot.
Hopefully, this allows rookies like Kevin Porter Jr. and Darius Garland to get heavy helpings of playing time in Tuesday evening’s game.
As for Cavs veterans such as Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson, it won’t be much of a surprise to see neither enter the game. After all, Cleveland’s first game of the regular season is just eight days away.
