Cleveland Cavaliers guard Lonzo Ball did not play in Monday night's impressive bounce-back win over the San Antonio Spurs, sparking questions about his status in the team's rotation. Craig Porter Jr. has gotten the nod off the bench when he's been inactive for back-to-backs, but that wasn't the case this time. Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson made a decision to sit Ball as an active player for the first time this season.
After the 113-101 victory that snapped a two-game slide, Atkinson explained his position.
“We wanted to look at some different combinations, but also, with ‘Zo, I just have a big picture thing,” Atkinson said. “Just keeping him healthy and fresh. It was kinda two-fold, the reason. I spoke to him. We need him healthy and available, and he has been so far, but I want to keep that going. I know we don't have back-to-backs, but we're playing every other day. So at a certain point, I need to find him some games [to rest].
“I talked to him about it, and it just happened to fall on [Monday].”
The Cavs play every other day for the next three weeks, capped with a January 16 road matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers. (They'll have two days in between their following game, an MLK Day matinee heavyweight bout with the Oklahoma City Thunder.) Atkinson feels that prioritizing Ball's health will prove beneficial in the long term, particularly physically for the postseason.
Ball has given Cleveland a mixed bag to this point. Though he's provided excellent defense and phenomenal passes, there's been a lid on the rim when he's shot the basketball, and many of those attempts have been ill-advised. You can give him a little leeway with the turnovers because it's a new squad, but his 85.5 points per 100 shot attempts rank in the second percentile among NBA players, according to Cleaning The Glass.
At the same time, the 28-year-old has spurts where he looks like a top-five point guard in the NBA, and the ball doesn't stick when he plays. However, he equally has stretches that make you question if he should still be playing in the league. It has to be challenging to evaluate.
Luckily for Atkinson, the Cavs have Porter to toss into the mix to run the show, and he has needed to play more for a while now. He, Jaylon Tyson, Nae'Qwan Tomlin, and Tyrese Proctor have been the constants of the wine and gold, bringing the juice and providing a spark that ignites others. Time and time again, Porter will make big plays in his allotted court time and change games. It happened again on Monday in San Antonio when the Cavs trailed.
“His offensive rebounding for a 6-foot-4 kid, it's amazing what he does,” Atkinson said. “Really good minutes, really good energy.”
In the fourth quarter, Porter blocked No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper on the run and made some crucial passes, including one that Jarrett Allen had rim out from close range on what was otherwise a banner night for the big man.
“Jaylon Tyson and Craig [stood out], honestly,” Allen said. “Those two guys. Jaylon made those big threes, Craig was getting offensive rebounds, finding the open person. Really, that just snowballed from there.”
“Jaylon and CP, our energy, bench guys, they played their role, getting us extra possessions,” Atkinson added. “Jaylon hit two big threes. But it was really a team win. A lot of guys. Dre [Hunter] was really good. We had a lot of guys play well.”
Porter is one of the lowest-usage players in the league, yet he's scoring 120.7 points per 100 shot attempts with a 1.48 assist-to-usage rate. Both of those figures rank in the 81st percentile, per Cleaning the Glass.
Whether Atkinson is being truthful about the schedule situation, prioritizing Porter over Ball in the rotation, or is somewhere in the middle, there is no doubt that Cleveland currently plays better when the former is getting those backup guard minutes.
