The Cleveland Cavaliers will look to win their fourth game in a row as they stay on the road to take on the Boston Celtics.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (3-1) at Boston Celtics (1-3)
Where: TD Garden – Boston,
MA
When: Wednesday, Oct. 29 at 7:00pm EST
TV: EPSPN, FanDuel Sports Network Ohio, FanDuel Sports Network App
Line: Cavs -3.5
Cavs Injury Report: Darius Garland – OUT (toe), Max Strus – OUT (foot), Sam Merrill – OUT (hip), Nae’Qwan Tomlin – OUT (two-way)
Celtics Injury Report: Jaylen Brown – PROBABLE (left hamstring), Jayson Tatum – OUT (achilles), Ron Harper Jr. – OUT (G League), Max Shulga – OUT (G League), Amari Williams – OUT (G League)
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What to watch for
Replacing Sam Merrill
It has flown under the radar, but Sam Merrill has quietly been one of the best players for the Cavs this season. The 29-year-old has scored in double figures every game so far, drilling 18 three-pointers along the way. His absence from the rotation due to a hip injury is something to monitor, as the Cavs have relied on him as a connector to the rest of the lineup. Thankfully, the Cavs do have some options to replace Merrill.
Craig Porter Jr. could move to the starting point guard role, pushing Donavan Mitchell back to his natural shooting guard position. After a poor first two games of the season, Porter has looked a lot better over the last few games. Some fans might say it should be Lonzo Ball because he is better than Porter, but the Cavs may want to keep Ball with the reserves to orchestrate the offense.
Jaylon Tyson could also start at shooting guard, which is probably a better fit than small forward where he started the season. That is perhaps the cleanest swap as it keeps everyone else where they have been in the rotation.
Crash the glass
The Celtics have not been a tremendous rebounding team (18th in the league), but the Cavs so far have been even worse (26th in the league). With the big front court the Cavs have, one could argue they should be better at crashing the glass. Boston has not shot the ball well overall, so there will be plenty of rebound opportunities. The Cavs have to limit the second-chance opportunities for a Celtics team that will have to be scrappy all season as they navigate a new world without Jayson Tatum (at least for this year).
Linking this back to the lineup changes with Merrill out, why not go super big? Slot De’Andre Hunter at the two, put Dean Wade at the three, with all else the same. That’s a big lineup that would give the Cavs a considerable size advantage. Of course, they could also do that with Porter or Ball in the backcourt, both of whom are above-average rebounding guards. We’ll see which direction head coach Kenny Atkinson goes.
