Live Thread: Cavs @ Celtics

If you hibernated through January and woke up this morning, you might be a little surprised. The Cavs’ brand new roster is set to take the floor this afternoon. The starting lineup this game will be George Hill, J.R. Smith, Cedi Osman, LeBron James, and Tristan Thompson, and if Friday night was any indication, get ready to see a much faster Cavalier offense with more ball movement. The Cavs should have scoring all up and down the lineup (everyone except Kevin Love is available to play today), and at least have the youth and bodies to be a more energetic and athletic defensive team (if not the defensive reputation).

Key to this defense will be communicating like they did Friday night and learning when to switch and when not to switch. If everyone can play in peoples’ faces like Cedi did the other night, they’ll be just fine. Tristan and J.R. seem like the weak links on the starting lineup. Tristan has been getting torched when he gets switched, and J.R. has just been getting burned all the time. If Thompson can stick on Horford/Baynes, and someone can contain Kyrie, the Cavs should be able to hang. The Cavs have to focus on not turning over the ball over against the Celtics young guns.

Offensively, if I was Tyronn Lue, I’d run everything through LeBron when he’s on the floor and when he’s off, use Kyle Korver’s gravity to set up everything else, with a side of Clarkson/Nance pick and roll (they should already have chemistry). The old play where Delly ran high pick and roll with JR running off a screen on the wing would be a fantastic option for Clarkson, Nance, Korver, Green, and Hood. Wow. This team is loaded now.

For the Celtics, Marcus Smart and Shane Larkin are out with a hand and knee issue respectively, while Gordon Hayward is out indefinitely while Celtics fans pray he can come back this season.

Buckle up Cavs’ fans. This should be a fun one. Here’s hoping the Can inspire a Bill Simmons Twitter rage. My prediction: 112-106, Cavs.