Cleveland Cavaliers forward Jeff Green had a less-than-impressive performance in Sunday afternoon’s 98-80 loss to the Indiana Pacers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Green logged 27 minutes as he went scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting from the field. Despite his poor shooting in Game 1, the former Georgetown Hoya is remaining confident for Game 2.
Via Colten Jones of AmicoHoops.net:
“(If) they’re gonna leave me open, I’m going to continue to shoot them,” Green said after a film session and walk through Monday. “They’re gonna fall. And then they have to adjust.
“I’m not going to adjust to them,” Green continued. “They have to adjust to how I’m going to play.”
Pacers head coach Nate McMillan decided to have Myles Turner matchup with Green in Sunday’s game, which proved to be an effective strategy. Turner was giving plenty of leeway on the defensive end of the floor, but Green just couldn’t get it going. In fact, all seven of Green’s shots were uncontested.
“Just missed shots,” Green said Monday. “Just chose the wrong game to miss shots. That’s about it.”
In 78 games played with the Cavs this season, Green has racked up averages of 10.8 points on 47.7 percent shooting from the field (31.2 percent from beyond the arc), 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 23.4 minutes per.
“The message to Jeff is be aggressive,” coach Lue said. “I think we need him on the floor for another ball-handler when they’re pushing our guards. Attacking the basket and just don’t settle. Be aggressive.
“If you’re going to make a mistake, make an aggressive mistake,” coach Lue continued. “He understands that. I thought defensively he was pretty good, just offensively being more aggressive with the basketball.”
Game 2 is set to tip inside Quicken Loans Arena on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. EST with TNT, FOX Sports Ohio and FOX Sports Indiana having live broadcast coverage. Let’s see if Green and the Cavs can bounce back.