Jeff Green will start throughout playoffs

CLEVELAND– Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue confirmed on Thursday that Jeff Green will start throughout the playoffs.

This means that neither Larry Nance Jr. nor Tristan Thompson will be in the first unit, putting Kevin Love at the 5 and LeBron James and Jeff Green interchangeable at the 3 and 4 positions.

“I just like his versatility,” Lue told reporters about the decision to stick with Green. “I just think defensive wise, you can put him on (DeMar) DeRozan, you can put him on John Wall, Bradley Beal. You can put him on (Victor) Oladipo. I just like that we can switch a lot of one-through-four stuff and it gives us another ball handler on the floor, too, at times. I just think it’s the right thing for us to start.”

Green has started in nine games this season and is averaging 10.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Lue also said that Cedi Osman would be the fifth starter for Thursday night’s game against the Washington Wizards, in place of an injured Jose Calderon.