David Blatt Making the Right Adjustments as Cleveland Cavaliers Head into Game 3

Locked in a second-round battle with the Chicago Bulls, the Cleveland Cavaliers have rebounded nicely from a shaky start to the series.

Following a rough 99-92 Game 1 loss, it was clear the Cavaliers had some adjustments to make.

Their new starting lineup with Mike Miller at small forward failed miserably. The pick-and-roll defense was awful, with Chicago enjoying a plethora of wide open shots. After easily handling the Boston Celtics in the first round, Cleveland quickly realized the Bulls were ready to put up much more of a fight.

For head coach David Blatt, this becomes his latest test in a first NBA season full of questions.

With no Kevin Love (shoulder surgery), Blatt must maximize the talent and rotations he has, all while still preserving Cleveland's hope of a championship. After a successful 106-91 throttling of the Bulls at home in Game 2, Blatt already appears to be making the right adjustments to get them there.

What Went Wrong

With no Love or J.R. Smith (two-game suspension) to start their series against the Bulls, Blatt's biggest decision was who would replace them in the Cavaliers' starting lineup.

The first substitution, Iman Shumpert, was an easy one to make. Upon arrival via mid-season trade from the New York Knicks, Shumpert was originally set to be a starter once healthy. But he was relegated to a reserve role since Smith was playing so well

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The second choice, who to replace Love with, was much more difficult.

Blatt had some options, but no one who could replace Love's combination of rebounding (team best 9.7 per game) and outside shooting (1.9 three-point makes, third on Cavs). His choices were either to go small with LeBron James at power forward, or opt for spacing (James Jones) or defense (Tristan Thompson) instead.

Blatt chose the path of Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra during the 2012 playoffs. After starting power forward Chris Bosh suffered an abdominal injury in a second-round series against the Indiana Pacers, Spoelstra moved James to the 4, adopting a new position-less style of play.

Hoping to copy this successful method, Blatt opted for a small lineup of his own that included James at power forward and Miller starting on the wing. Miller was given the easiest assignment of any guard or forward (Mike Dunleavy), avoiding any matchups with Derrick Rose or Jimmy Butler.

What resulted was a weird, confusing system of bodies that had little previous playing experience together.

James started off the game on Bulls center Joakim Noah, Timofey Mozgov was asked to step out on Pau Gasol and Dunleavy began running circles around Miller.

A good idea by Blatt quickly faded. Miller was atrocious defensively. After not playing a single minute in their first-round series against the Celtics, he was unfairly asked to start against one of the Eastern Conference's best teams.

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Dunleavy and the Bulls practically salivated at this matchup. The Chicago forward started off hot, running off screens and leaving Miller scrambling to catch up. Dunleavy finished the game with 14 points and seven rebounds on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.

The other major problem for Cleveland was pick-and-roll defense, specifically with Gasol on the pick-and-pop.

Now 34, Gasol isn't nearly the physical back-to-the-basket player he was with the Memphis Grizzlies and Los Angeles Lakers. He remains one of the NBA's best mid-range-shooting big men, something Gasol terrorized the Cavs with in Game 1. He finished 10-of-16 shooting from the field for 21 points, second-most to Rose's 25.

Gasol broke down how the Cavaliers chose to defend him, via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.

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They played it softer. They showed aggressively. They switched at times. They can blitz (Rose) but then they'd have to leave me open and I'd become the playmaker. It's a tough play to guard. Everybody runs high pick-and-roll. It's just some teams are more effective than others depending on the personnel.

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Cleveland would too often double-team the ball-handler (mostly Rose), leaving Gasol with a wide open jumper.

Blatt had just one day to clean all of these mistakes up, and responded in a big way.

How Blatt Fixed It

Obviously, the Miller experiment wasn't working. The 35-year-old forward was a team-worst minus-20 in Game 1, finishing with just three points in his 16-plus minutes.

Blatt had to make a change, something that would improve the Cavaliers' defense while regaining some of the continuity that made them one of the NBA's best teams over the past four months.

While he wisely kept Shumpert in at shooting guard, Blatt replaced Miller in the starting lineup with Thompson, allowing James to play his natural small forward position. As Bleacher Report's Ethan Skolnick points out, the move was just as much about James returning to his normal spot as it was making the change from Miller to Thompson.

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It wasn't a secret like the one that prematurely got out—the one about Tristan Thompson starting instead of Mike Miller. That switch was as much for James' comfort and psyche as anything, since he much prefers to start at small forward than power forward, a preference that he made clear in Miami, but which wasn't always accommodated there, especially since he and the Heat were so successful with him manning the 4 spot.

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The move worked beautifully.

Thompson is very well thought of in the Cavs' locker room due to his unselfishness, energy and strong presence on the boards. He's been one of the NBA's best offensive rebounders all season, and responded with six (12 total) during Game 2.

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"For Double T, just having him on the sideline today was a little bit more physicality to start the game and we responded well," James told Chris Fedor of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. "I would say what he does is a relentless effort on the glass. It was unbelievable for our team and every extra possession we get is key. He's just relentless."

It was Thompson's effort on defense that helped contain Gasol as well. After dropping 21 points on the Cavs during Game 1, Cleveland held Gasol to just 11 on 3-of-8 shot attempts with Thompson as a primary defender.

Subbing in Thompson to cover Chicago's bigs meant a return to guarding the wing for James. With Irving and Shumpert drawing a lot of Rose and Butler, it allowed James to match up with Dunleavy, someone who gave Miller a lot of problems.

After spending most of his time guarding the Bulls' post players, Dunleavy was a welcome cover for James. He helped limit Dunleavy to eight total points, none of which were from three. This came just one game after Dunleavy connected on three of his four shots from deep.

Offensively, James looked much more aggressive when attacking from the wing. He was fantastic offensively, finishing with 33 points, eight rebounds and five assists in just over 34 minutes.

Mark Duncan/Associated Press

"Bron was typical LeBron," Blatt said via Fedor. "Very aggressive, in attack mode, engaged and leading his guys by example and vocally. Obviously, his determined effort in terms of attacking the game was very evident."

Blatt was much more selective of Miller's court time as well. In 13 minutes off the bench, Miller finished dead even in plus/minus, a 20-point improvement from Game 1.

Blatt wasn't afraid to stick with Thompson for stretches over Mozgov, who struggled to convert close shots and stay out of foul trouble. Kendrick Perkins answered Blatt's call, giving Cleveland two blocked shots in his 12 minutes of play.

The rotation went nine deep even without Love or Smith. The Cavaliers looked more comfortable in general, thanks in large part to Blatt's lineup adjustments.

Improvements Moving Forward

Blatt has make some impressive changes in the series thus far, and should continue to tighten up some loose ends.

For starters, he'll have to make yet another change to the starting lineup with Smith back following his suspension. Does he keep Shumpert, who's been fantastic, as a starter, or give Smith his old spot back? Both need their minutes, and represent the Cavaliers' best three-and-D threats. The best bet would be to stick with what worked for so long, using Smith as a starter after enjoying such a phenomenal run with him there during the regular season.

While Miller was better in Game 2, he's still a huge defensive liability that Chicago could exploit at any time.

One potential solution would be to give his minutes to veteran forward Shawn Marion who can play both the 3 and 4. Although he's also well past his prime, Marion can switch with James on offense and defense while still presenting a court-spacing three-point threat. Blatt failed to play Marion a single meaningful Game 2 minute, opting to ride with Miller instead. This needs to change.

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When it comes to pick-and-roll coverage, the Cavaliers need to continue to respect Gasol's jumper by keeping a man on him rather than doubling Rose. Rose finished Game 2 just 6-of-20 shooting for 14 points, looking fatigued at times while facing an improved Cavs' D.

Blatt should still begin the game with James at small forward, but going small at times isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on the matchup, writes Skolnick.

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As Cleveland coach David Blatt later noted, James ultimately played plenty of power forward Wednesday, as Blatt substituted in smaller players around him. Maybe the change, for the first several minutes—during which James subbed out and then subbed back in with the same four starters—freed his mind to play more aggressively.

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In large part thanks to Blatt, the Cavaliers rolled past the Bulls in Game 2 and will look to continue this trend during Game 3 in Chicago.

With Smith returning, some more adjustments will need to be made.

Despite his limited NBA playoff experience, Blatt very much appears in control.

Greg Swartz has covered the Cleveland Cavaliers and NBA for Bleacher Report since 2010. All stats provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted.