Cleveland’s head coach will be returning to the sidelines ahead of their matchup with the Wizards.
The Cavaliers were already a scary matchup, and now they’ve got their head coach back.
According to Cleveland.com, Tyronn Lue will be resuming his duties with the Cavs on Thursday, when the Wizards are in town.
Cleveland didn’t miss a beat in his absence, going 8-1 in the last two weeks. If you include the game Lue missed in December, the team is 9-1 this season under Larry Drew, who filled in for Lue.
Lue has been dealing with personal health issues all season, and we’re all happy to see him feeling well enough to rejoin his team. He’s enjoyed plenty of success in Cleveland, though while coaching is important in the NBA, it’s a much easier task with LeBron James on the team. That said, the Cavaliers have experienced much roster turnover during Lue’s tenure, and he deserves credit for consistently keeping them at or near the top of the Eastern Conference.
His return will likely have a larger impact over the course of the postseason than it will in one single game, but that impact could still manifest itself against the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs.
With or without Lue, the Cavs are a scary matchup for the Wizards (and everyone else in the East). His return puts Cleveland that much closer to full strength, which makes Thursday night’s matchup that much harder.