National Basketball Association

Tristan Thompson to start Game 2 vs. Bulls

Published May. 6, 2015 6:09 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Josh Poloha

Following the horrendous first quarter in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 1 loss to the Chicago Bulls, David Blatt has decided to shake up the starting lineup for Game 2 Wednesday night. According to Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group, Tristan Thompson will start at power forward for the Cavaliers Wednesday night against the Bulls with their projected starting lineup now consists of Kyrie Irving, Iman Shumpert, LeBron James, Thompson and Timofey Mozgov.

In Game 1, veteran swingman Mike Miller was given the starting nod. He finished the game with a team-worst minus-20 in his 16 minutes on the court. The Cavs fared especially poorly on defense while he was in the game.

This will be Thompson’s first career postseason start. He is averaging 6.6 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in 27.8 minutes off the bench in the 2015 playoffs. He has been on the court late in most of the games this postseason, but this will mark his first time being introduced with the starting five.

In 12 starts during the regular season, Thompson averaged 12.6 points and 9.7 rebounds in 35.7 minutes, with an average plus-minus rating of minus-6.4. In 67 games off the bench, he averaged 7.5 points and 7.6 rebounds, but his average plus-minus was +9.8. With Thompson starting at power forward, LeBron James will be able to move back to his normal small forward spot. This could free him to focus on his offensive game more, and less on defending and boxing out opposing big men.

Due to the change, the Cavaliers will be starting with a more traditional lineup rather than having a floor-spacing group like they tried to begin Game 1. With Thompson and Timofey Mozgov up front, Cleveland will be able to match up better against the likes of Pau Gasol and Joakim Noah.

In a virtual must-win game, the wine and gold need to put their best team on the floor, no matter if it is to start the game or end it.

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