For most on Monday night’s game against the Boston Celtics, Lamar Stevens sat. His warm-ups stayed on. He seemed on his way to only a brief cameo, having played nine seconds in the second quarter as a defensive hub.
And then Cleveland Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff went to him. To start the fourth quarter, with the Cavs down 14 and lacking effort, Bickerstaff turned to someone he said “knows exactly who he is.”
“Lamar is extremely self-aware,” Bickerstaff said. “And you have conversations with Lamar, and he knows exactly who he is and how he can help. He is mentally tough enough where, not playing for three quarters or playing the nine seconds before a break, that doesn’t impact what he’s going out there to do. He doesn’t get in his feelings; he doesn’t get in his own mind; he just wants to go out and help this team. So he knows he has to play at his best, and we trust him to do that.”
In 18 minutes — 17 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime — Stevens finished with 8 points on 3-5 shooting and 8 rebounds, 7 of which came on the offensive glass. In overtime, he had five straight points — a corner three followed up by a strong drive from the free throw line — the give the Cavs some breathing room.
“I don’t take any moment for granted, and I always want to be ready for any opportunity that comes my way and from what the team asks from me and J.B. asked from me,” Stevens said. “It’s not just to come out and score big numbers; it’s just to impact the game and bring that physicality and defense and just do the things that I know I can control. So I always just try to stay ready, and every opportunity I get on the court, I just want to make the most of it and really help my team just win because I think that’s the most important thing.”
With Stevens on the floor, Cleveland had a 16-4 advantage in second chance points. This was largely Stevens taking advantage of a tactical choice for Boston to leave Cleveland’s wings open. With no one directly boxing him out, Stevens crashed into space over and over and over again. The Celtics never adjusted, so he made them pay over and over.
“There’s no way we win that game without Lamar,” Bickerstaff said. “He set and changed the tone of the physicality, the effort. I know I say this a lot, but I love in this team that they didn’t want to disappoint him. He was giving it his full effort, and they weren’t going to let his effort go wasted. So they figured out a way where they raised their level and out-competed and went out and won the game.”
Monday marked two consecutive games Stevens played. It was also the second straight game where he played more minutes than Dean Wade, who the Cavs had planned to give consistent minutes to after Kevin Love’s buyout. Since Feb. 15, the date Love formally asked Cleveland for a buyout, Wade is averaging 1.1 points per game while shooting 17.6% from the field and 15.4% from three.
He’s also not always looking to shoot when the opportunities present themselves, notably on three-pointers. And against Boston, Mitchell found him with a full court pass that he caught right under the rim. Instead of catching and going up for a dunk or layup, he immediately kicked the ball out to Caris LeVert. LeVert missed the three.
Stevens isn’t a perfect fit a playoff rotation — he’s shooting 32% on three-pointers, including 25% on corner threes. Not every team will give him room to crash the offensive glass like the Celtics did. But as Bickerstaff said, Stevens knows what what he is. He plays to his strengths. He competes. He scraps.
“When he’s out there competing, fighting, screaming, getting buckets, and also getting stops, you’ve gotta be out there doing the same thing,” Mitchell said. “You don’t want to let Lamar down, and that’s what he provides for us.”
