East Conf. Finals Game 5 - Cleveland Cavaliers 83-96 Boston Celtics: 5 Talking Points

#2 The insertion of Aron Baynes into the starting lineup

Baynes dunks it in during the first quarter after a nice feed from Tatum

Since Brad Stevens had earmarked Marcus Morris as the primary defender for LeBron James this series, he stuck to his guns and started Mook in the 4 games up to this point. This resulted in mismatches in the frontcourt for Al Horford to contend with, as at various points he had to switch between boxing out Tristan Thompson and contesting Kevin Love at the 3-point line in Games 2,3 and 4 - when Thompson was started in place of Kyle Korver.

Thompson started a 4th successive game for the Cavs, but Brad Stevens outmaneuvered Ty Lue by playing Aron Baynes at center and Al Horford at the power forward slot. This gave Boston a size advantage over Thompson, who had been a factor with his rebounding in both of their losses while dominating Al Horford in their low-post matchups.

Baynes had 5 offensive rebounds in Game 4, and he followed that up with valuable minutes at the 5 spot from the starting lineup in this game as well. While LeBron had an easier job while being guarded by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in the earlier periods, Marcus Morris did a better job when he was fielded alongside Horford and Baynes who took care of Love and Thompson soundly.

Now, Tyronne Lue is again faced with the dilemma of whether to start Kyle Korver or Tristan Thompson, as this adjustment led to the Celtics dominating the four factors in Game 5.