Cavs Cant Abandon Mozgov From Their Game Plan

            Timofey Mozgov dropped a career-high 28 points and corralled 10 rebounds in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena, but rode the pine for the majority of Sunday’s Game 5 defeat at Oracle Arena. Mozgov, Cleveland’s 7-foot Russian center, was nowhere to be found in the Cavs’ 104-91 loss, playing a grand total of nine minutes without a single point, rebound or assist recorded.

            "It's no disrespect to anyone, certainly not to Timo, who has done a great job for us," said Cavs head coach David Blatt, when asked why Mozgov's minutes were significantly reduced. "That's just the way that we played it tonight, and Timo will be back and he will not lose his way or lose his head just because he didn't play a lot tonight."

            Warriors head coach Steve Kerr made a genius move prior to Game 4 with his team facing a 2-1 deficit, inserting Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup to replace Andrew Bogut—who did not see any playing time in Game 5 and logged just three minutes in the prior contest. Recognizing his team could not go toe-to-toe in the rebounding department against the Cavs, he opted for a quicker lineup that could create better looking shots from the outside. 

            Kerr’s plan worked perfectly in Game 4, mainly because Iguodala shut down LeBron James. Mozgov was the lone bright spot for Cleveland in that contest. In Sunday’s defeat, James returned to form but the Cavs’ second-best player of the series, Mosgov, was left on the bench and unable to help his superstar teammate.

            Blatt has played into Kerr’s hands by sitting Mozgov. Outside of James, Mozgov is the only Cavalier the Warriors have struggled to guard. With Mozgov sitting, the Cavs’ depth—already brutalized thanks to season-ending injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, both three-time All-Stars—becomes even more challenged.

            The Cavs need to play Mozgov and Tristan Thompson on the court together for at least some portions of Game 6. Thompson, the 6-foot-10 inch power forward who has thrived in the absence of Love this postseason, played almost all the minutes at center in Game 5. Though Mozgov and Thompson struggled alongside each other in Game 4 against the Warriors’ smaller lineup, the ferocious rebounding tandem should be given another chance in the Cavs’ must-win contest on Tuesday night.

            When Mozgov is next to Thompson, it gives the Cavs a colossal edge on the glass. It allows one player to focus on offense (while the other looks to grab an offensive rebound) without giving up much on the offensive glass. When Mozgov and/or Thompson sets a bruising pick on James’ man, it causes the Warriors’ biggest defender—in most cases Draymond Green in Golden State’s small-ball lineup—to step up on James, giving Cleveland the upper-hand.

            The reality, though, is that Thompson and Mozgov can no longer play the majority of the game alongside one another, like they had done in the previous two series. Golden State exposed multiple mismatches by using their smaller lineup to combat Cleveland’s bigs. Still, Mozgov seeing only nine minutes of action in Game 5 is ridiculous and that falls on Blatt. 

            The tandem of Thompson and Mozgov should probably play no more than 15 minutes together. The remaining minutes should be split equally—or at least close to equal—with Mozgov on the court and Thompson on the bench and vice versa. Unless one of the two particularly shines, the minutes should be (roughly) distributed evenly. Mozgov is just as big a reason, if not more, that the Cavs are within two wins of a championship as Thompson, and Blatt needs to recognize that before it’s too late.