For all the talk about the Cleveland Cavaliers not having an edge after last year ended, the team seems to have nipped that issue in the bud. Guys like Max Strus and Tristan Thompson have brought a toughness and a nastiness that the wine-and-gold hasn’t had for quite some time in past seasons.
But there’s one addition in particular who has caught the attention of many in the locker room with his attitude: Georges Niang.
“We have this ongoing joke of who’s the enforcer of the group. I won’t say who said who’s who, but Georges took a step in the right direction tonight I think,” Donovan Mitchell said after Friday’s win at Miami.
“I think he is the enforcer,” Darius Garland added. “Georges Niang, he’s a dawg. He comes in, talks a lot of stuff. He gets all the techs, all the hard fouls, so I guess he is the enforcer now. We’re changing Minivan to G-Wagon. Yeah, we’re officially changing Minivan to G-Wagon for all the fans out there.”
Though Niang scored 13 points in 20 critical minutes for the Cavs, it was his defense, timely makes and ability to get under the Heat’s skin that stood out.
“That’s something that we’ve been missing,” Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “I think the addition of him and Max, there’s just a grit to ’em. There’s a never-back-down mentality.
“But in that, they can go out and still play the game, and I think that’s what Georges showed. He stood his ground. Scuffles happen. Sometimes, that can be a distraction, and then he goes down and bangs a three. We ask all of our guys to lead in their own way, and Georges has done a phenomenal job of that.”
Bickerstaff, of course, is referring to Niang’s exchange with Josh Richardson after the former believed there was a flop on a play. The two got into an argument and shoving match afterward. However, it only fueled Niang.
“Georges comes in with a lot of intensity. He’s coming with a lot of physicality and a lot of smack-talking,” Garland said. “Georges will pick up a team whenever he wants to, and sometimes we need that to get us going. We love his energy, we love his mindset. He makes really big shots for us as well and he plays really hard.
“It’s just he provides that energy for us,” Mitchell added. “You see, he hits that three against Orlando. DG, everybody runs and jumps on his back. That’s what you need. We knew that coming in. I knew that him coming in here would be able to provide that for us. It’s just a different energy level. That’s what you need in those moments — up, down, it doesn’t matter. He’s always gonna be level and continue to be that positive vibe for us.”
Niang clearly plays better when he’s got a chip on his shoulder, and finding any way to get in that zone seems to be the catalyst of that. Over the last five games, he’s averaging 11 points per night and shooting nearly 41 percent from long distance.
The Cavs and their fans wanted a tougher team following the playoffs. It looks like they’ve got their guy to hitch their wagon to in Niang — no pun intended.
