One of Jaylen's finest games this year was that early November matchup where they nearly pulled it out while starting the unstoppable Zeller/Amir frontcourt. I think he has to play a lot with Amir being basically useless due to injury.
Yes, Game 1 is going to be our best chance to steal a game. If we don't it could be a quick 4-game series.
Er ... Larry Sanders? You mean the stoner they released a month ago?
Kevin Love has long been thought a "height liar" being listed at 6' 10" and Thompson is listed 6' 9"
Thompson has a recent history of destroying us on the glass and we have no answers for him physically. When he is at the 5 and LeBron the 4 we have to go small.....this is when the Cavs have an enormous physical advantage with size against us.
In the 3 games he played in Love has had games of 26 and 8, 30 and 15, and 15 and 16 against the Celtics this year.
These.
Horford didn't play in one of those games (26/8 game).
I have to be honest. Right now a series upset to me would be if we lose 4-2. I can't see us winning more than one game. Great run to this point.
Yes that would be great. The only problem is that if Horford is on Love who guards Thompson?
A decrepit Amir or Kelly. And this is why we're going to get pounded on the glass. I wonder if Jerebko or Zeller get some run in this series for this reason.
As you pointed out before, Love could be a key to this series. Thompson? Not so much. I'll take my chances with him burning us over Love 10 times out of 10.
Winning 2 games in this matchup would be incredible. Our best chance of stealing a game comes tomorrow. We have momentum and confidence plus our home court......while the Cavs have collected cobwebs for the past week. I will warn everyone to temper their emotions if we should win as once the Cavs adjust we really don't matchup well with them at all.
I'm not worried about Thompson torching us scoring. It's on the glass. All he has to do is play the Marcin Gortat role of rebounding, setting screens, and protecting the rim and he's 100 times more talented than him.
That's 23 and 13 for a guy that averaged 19 and 11-an extra 4 points and 2 boards. Good numbers, yes, but not other-worldly based on his overall stats.
Against the Celtics, he's exactly what will constitute a mismatch. They have nobody to match up with him. And yes, I think he's much better at the things he needs to do in his role than Gortat and Gortat at times dominated on the glass.
It's fascinating to me how people talk about "matchups" like in this day and age of the NBA (well, except the Bulls) anyone is going to end up guarding anyone else in isolation for long stretches of the game.
Matchups are very important especially in a playoff series though but you are correct in that it is now more of a TEAM personnel matchup than in decades past. Matchups turn Tristan Thompson into a fringe rotation player into a player that Brad must gameplan to keep off the offensive glass. It was the same with the Bulls when Rondo played.....dribble penetration and/or ball movement forces defensive rotations which doesn't allow for defenders to best position themselves for rebounds. It is why Tristan has torched us in the past and why Robin Lopez did prior to Rondo going down.
What is he "much better" at?
They've murdered everyone. I read an article (Simmons, I think?) About how the Cavs run the PnR with LBJ until they get the matchup they want.
It will be interesting to see what the Cavs do against IT. My guess is that LBJ could see significant time on him to try to take him completely out of the game. That would put Irving and Smith on Bradley and Crowder which would benefit the Celtics especially with Bradley. Horford and Love should match up against each other and then Amir on Thompson.
It still boggles my mind why Brad waited until the final games of the Wizards series to play him when it was such a great matchup for his versatility. Sadly, I don't think Brad has any buttons to push when he's up against such mismatches at virtually every key position. The players play.
