After watching Thompson dominate the boards against the Celtics, I’d say this is a good decision.
Head Coach David Blatt LeBron James has decided to move Mike Miller to the bench and Thompson in at Center, which will now allow James to slide down the SF position.
Playing Thompson alongside Timofey Mozgov risks sacrificing some spacing on the offensive end, but it should improve the team’s defense and could create an appreciable advantage on the offensive glass. The Thompson-Mozgov pairing played 15 minutes in Game 1, during which Cleveland outscored Chicago by 14 points and grabbed five offensive rebounds.
During the regular season, the Cavs outscored opponents by 8.9 points per-100 possessions with that duo on the floor, and the offense didn’t suffer as logic would dictate.
Coach Thibs and the Bulls, meanwhile, don’t seem to be all that threatened by the sudden change in lineups.
Thibodeau on Thompson starting: “He played 37 minutes in the last game. So we have an idea of who he is and how he fits in.”
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) May 6, 2015
H/T SN