CLEVELAND, OH – Darius Garland’s 3-point attempt was off the mark in the second quarter on Wednesday night, but Tristan Thompson was there for the putback dunk.
“A man amongst boys!” Austin Carr proclaimed on the Fox Sports Ohio broadcast.
.@RealTristan13 says I got your back, rook!TT pulls the @cavs closer in the 2nd quarter. #BeTheFight pic.twitter.com/6PGU71Posb
— FOX Sports Cleveland (@FOXSportsCLE) October 30, 2019Thompson has been the man for the Cavaliers so far this season. He’s averaging 20.3 points, 11.8 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game.
“Tristan was a monster,” Kevin Love said while sporting a Jason mask. “He’s very focused, he’s taking care of his body. He did a lot of work in the offseason to prepare himself. This is maybe the best that I’ve seen him. When I first got here the first couple years he was really impressive, then he dealt with (injured) his calf, which lingered with him for a while. This is definitely the best I’ve seen him and that fourth quarter really showed how bouncy he is and how relentless he’s been on both ends of the floor.”
Thompson has led the Cavs in scoring in three out of their first four games. He’s had a double-double in each contest and has impressed first-year head coach John Beilein.
“He came in in incredible shape, from the very beginning,” Beilein said. “He has a great attitude about being a team leader. When you care so deeply about your team, you’ll find some extras a lot of times to really grow yourself in that. The more you give to others, the more you are going to get.”
Thompson passed his conditioning test following a practice during the first week of training camp. The challenge was simple: run three “suicides” in under 30 seconds a piece, with 30 seconds of rest in between each one.
“Usually guys struggle making the second one,” Beilein said.
Thompson ran all three “suicides” in under 30 seconds on his first try.
“I destroyed it and it’s on to the next challenge," he said. “Obviously missing all those games last year definitely pissed me off. I never experienced that in my entire career. I accepted a challenge to really take care of my body and kind of changed some of the habits I was doing in the past and so far, knock on wood, it’s paying off.”
Thompson’s conditioning has allowed him to bring energy on both sides of the floor. He had a career-high five blocks in Wednesday’s win over the Bulls. The Cavaliers need that type of effort from him if they’re going to be successful this season.
“When I looked at the analytics from last year, that was the big gaping hole: rim protection,” Beilein said. “He had a tendency of coming in to stay more with his own man when somebody was beat. And we said, ‘You’re the last line of defense. We’ll try and cover up on your man, but you have to lead and wall up, take charges.’ He didn’t take a charge all last year, he’s already taken two this year. Just be this guy that can protect us at the rim.”
The Cavaliers are off to a 2-2 start, in large part because of Thompson’s efforts on offense and defense. The veteran is in a contract year, which means the front office will have to make a decision about his future in Cleveland before February’s trade deadline. But, for now, they can ride their big man, in hopes of surprising the NBA world.
“It’s good to get a few (wins) now and we got to keep it going,” Beilein said. “We expect the same effort every game because we’re making sure they get rest in between.”
