The Cleveland Cavaliers will have their hands full against the Indiana Pacers when Round 1 of the playoffs begin Saturday afternoon at Quicken Loans Arena.
Paul George and Jeff Teague are sure to take away energy off of LeBron James and Kyrie Irving from the defensive end, while Lance Stephenson is a wild card. But if there’s a Pacer that poses serious concern for Cavs coach Tyronn Lue at the least, it’s former Wine and Golder and current Pacers sharpshooter C.J. Miles.
Speaking to reporters, Lue stressed on the importance of containing Miles.
“Every time he sees us he plays well. So we got to do a good job of being really locked into him, knowing where he’s at, at all times and try to take him out of the series.”
The second-year coach has good reasons for feeling that way. In four games against the Cavaliers in the regular season, Miles averaged 17 points per game while shooting 56 percent from long distance and 61 percent from the field. But if the entire talk about the Cavs being able to flip the metaphorical switch in the playoffs, then chances are those numbers for Miles won’t carry over in Round 1.
C.J. Miles was a fixture in Cleveland’s rotation from 2012-2014 where he scored 10.6 points per game on a 38.8 percent three-point mark. He also holds the second most three-point makes in a game by a Cavalier with 10.