INDEPENDENCE: Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue respects Tristan Thompson’s streak of consecutive games played and wants him to continue it as long as he can, which is why he’s electing to rest Thompson now while it doesn’t count.
Thompson will miss the next couple of preseason games with a sore left foot, Lue said Friday. The Cavs host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday and play at the Atlanta Hawks on Monday. Thompson practiced Friday with no problems and an MRI on his foot was negative, but Lue isn’t taking any chances.
“He wanted to play but it’s no need, just to make sure, give him a couple extra days off,” Lue said. “Because in practice you can control the play. In the games you can’t control when a guy’s playing full speed. He looked great, said he feels good, so for my mind I’m just going to hold him out a couple more games.”
Thompson leads the league with his streak of 370 consecutive games played. It’s a mark in which Thompson takes great pride.
Veteran Chris “Birdman” Andersen started in place of Thompson in the preseason opener. Andersen, 38, could play considerable minutes this season in a role similar to what Timofey Mozgov held last season as Lue tries to limit some of the pounding Thompson takes against some of the league’s bigger centers.
“That’s where Bird comes in. Bird’s been great for us,” Lue said. “Just his physicality. Bird’s a big part of what we’re trying to do.”
All in … again
A number of Cavs were expected to attend the Indians’ playoff game Friday, including LeBron James, Channing Frye and Lue among many others. Lue freely admits he isn’t a baseball fan, but he supports the other teams in whatever city he’s working. He’s also friendly with Indians manager Terry Francona, who was managing the Red Sox while Lue was an assistant with the Celtics. Francona and Doc Rivers, Lue’s mentor, are close friends.
Lue believes the Cavs’ championship can rub off on the other teams in town, most notably the Indians.
“I think once the curse was broke and the monkey is off your back, it’s off your back for everyone,” he said. “We’re all in the same city. It takes a lot of pressure off everyone else, so hopefully Terry can do it again, like we did in Boston.”
Lue’s jersey retired
Lue will have his jersey retired at Nebraska after he finished ninth in school history in scoring despite playing just three seasons. Now he has won NBA championships as both a coach and player.
But Lue left the Cornhuskers in 1998, so why the long delay? Because the school has a policy not to retire jerseys of players who didn’t graduate, Lue said, but Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst changed that. Lue’s omission from the jerseys hanging in the rafters has been a point of contention in Lincoln for years.
“I will be the only person they retire the jersey that didn’t graduate from Nebraska. I got my degree online,” Lue said. “I’m happy about it.”
Jason Lloyd can be reached at jlloyd@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the Cavs blog at www.ohio.com/cavs. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ.