I wonder if Stevens will change up the starters for this series.

our starters ( Zeller, Bass, Turner, Bradley and Smart) don't seem to be a great matchup to the Cav.

Zeller- Mozgov= OK
Bass- Love= Ok
Turner- James= NOT
Smart- Smith= Good
Bradley- Irving= Good

Crowder is probably a better match up on LeBron, and frankly I would like to see Crowder an BASS play him mostly this series.

maybe Kelly or Jerebko starting with Bass playing James and Turner playing Smith on D. moving Smart or Bradley to the bench for this series?

Our defensive match up on James and making him work with a big body is key to making the Cav's work hard this series, IMO.

It won't be Crowder, Bass, Turner, Smart, or any one player defending LeBron. Unless you have Kawhi Leonard on the roster, and only one team does, it takes a team approach to defend LeBron. Cutting of the lane to his drives and forcing him into being a jump shooter will be the responsibility of the defensive scheme as a whole.

Kdp,
Agree about the ET-LJ mismatch but unfortunately, Brad doesn't have too many options. Also, this mismatch is visible mostly in the post. As long as they keep LJ shooting jumpers there's a chance.
Also, Celtics have a chance if they keep their cool and, at the same time get under the skin of the knucklehead et al.

AK

As a rule, it's not a good idea to change what got you there, although there are exceptions.  Personally, I think Crowder performs much better within the chemistry of the bench than with the starters, although I agree that he's probably the best defensive matchup for James.  James is going to get his points; I'm not sure a few more or less make as much difference as who's guarding him down the stretch.  And Crowder's invariably in there down the stretch.

Sam

I agree with al the points. I just look at the cav's roster and think we match up pretty well defensively against them, but more like this:

Mozgov (24M)- Zeller (24M)
Perkins (14M)- Sully (14M)
Thompson (24M)- Bass (10M), Jerebko (14M)
Love (32M)- Kelly O (22M), Sully (10M)
James (38M)-Crowder (22M), Bass (16M)
Miller (12M)- Turner (12M)
JR Smith (28M)-Smart (22M), Turner (6M)
Shumpert (20M)- Thomas (14M), Turner (6M)
Irving (36M)- Bradley (30M), Smart (6M)
Dellavedova (12M)- Thomas (12M)


Bradley and Smart can do a good job in making Irving work hard and Crowder and bass can do likewise on LeBron.

in this matchup, Kelly and Sully have to control Love.

I'm just looking forward to see what Stevens and company come up with match up wise. It wouldn't surprise me to see Smart on James at times even.

I see no good reason to tweak the starting lineup.

Dboss

While I agree that it would be best not to mess around with the starting lneup, I expect Brad will be quick with the hook if any starter quickly appears to be a weak link against the Cavs.  As it is, there are relatively few circumstances —at least while a game is in doubt) when there aren't one or two starters and one or two bench players on the floor together.  Brad has gotten them used to one another, so subbing in a bench player for a starter is relatively unlikely to cause a major upheaval.

Sam