INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- When the Cleveland Cavaliers signed Jeff Green to a one-year prove-it deal early in free agency, head coach Tyronn Lue didn't know exactly what to expect.

The two had built a strong relationship, a bond that extended back to their time together with the Boston Celtics. Still, Green was coming off the worst season of his enigmatic career and it led to plenty of questions about whether he'd be able to rebound.

But as the Cavaliers prepare for their first-round playoff matchup against the fifth-seeded Indiana Pacers, Green has earned a spot in the starting lineup, become a vital fixture in Lue's 10-man rotation and will be given a major responsibility. That's quite a change from this summer when Green was initially viewed as an energetic two-way piece of an altered bench -- a player looking to revive his career in a new environment.

"With all the trades and things that went down, all the injuries, he stepped into the role of starting and he's done a good job," Lue said. "I think Kevin (Love), LeBron (James) love playing with him. I think he's versatile defensively, he's versatile offensively and it kind of keeps Kevin at the 5. That's what's been working for us as of late. We beat Toronto twice with him starting. We beat Boston. So, it's been good for us."

This was Lue's original idea coming into the season, only with Jae Crowder in Green's place. Seeing the Golden State Warriors decimate their traditional frontcourt -- James, Love and Tristan Thompson -- was probably the final straw.

Lue wanted Love at center, even told him as much in the off-season, believing it would raise Cleveland's offensive ceiling so much that any expected defensive deficiencies wouldn't matter as much. A team built with offense as its backbone, one designed to bury teams from 3-point range, would simply overwhelm opponents with floor spacing and outscore everyone.

Crowder was supposed to be a big piece of that small-ball lineup, while taking some of the defensive load off James' shoulders. It never materialized. After failing to flourish, Crowder was sent away at the deadline, which opened the door for Green.

In 14 games as a starter, Green is averaging 13.6 points on 48.5 percent from the field and 36 percent from 3-point range in 29.8 minutes.

The Cavs are 9-5 in those games, with one of the losses coming in the insignificant season finale against the New York Knicks, a night when the Cavs were more focused on health than playoff seeding.

When Love returned from a broken bone in his left hand on March 19, it seemed Green was on his way back to the bench, especially as the Cavs reversed course midway through the season and moved Love back to his natural position. Instead, Cleveland stuck with Green, going back to the lethal Love-at-center lineup.

A few days later, Larry Nance Jr. returned from a nagging hamstring injury, threatening Green's starting role. But in a surprising move, the Cavs elected to put both Nance and Tristan Thompson on the bench instead.

That was a clear sign of their belief in Green. It was reaffirmed on April 6, a night Lue revealed Green would be a playoff starter.

"I just like his versatility, I think defensive wise we can put him on (DeMar) DeRozan, you can put him on John Wall, Bradley Beal and you can put him on (Victor) Oladipo."

Lue confirmed he would definitely give the 6-foot-9 athletic forward a crack at Oladipo, who is the top name on Cleveland's scouting report heading into Game 1 Sunday afternoon. Oladipo, named an All-Star for the first time and likely the Most Improved Player, torched the Cavs during the regular season, averaging 25.0 points on 44 percent from the field and 47.2 percent from beyond the arc. He also tallied 5.0 assists and 4.8 rebounds.

According to NBA.com stats, Green spent most of his time defending Domantas Sabonis in the four regular-season matchups, spending 50 possessions against him and only giving up 16 points. But in the Cavs' switch-heavy defensive scheme, Green also matched up against Thaddeus Young, Lance Stephenson, Myles Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic and Al Jefferson.

That's been a theme this season. Green's defensive versatility has led to checking bigger players (LaMarcus Aldridge, Jusuf Nurkic, Jonas Valanciunas, DeAndre Jordan and Marc Gasol), wings (Khris Middleton, Giannias Antetokounmpo, Bradley Beal, DeRozan and Otto Porter Jr.) and point guards (Russell Westbrook, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, James Harden and Wall).

Size doesn't matter. Neither does the position. Green has stepped into JR Smith's old role and one the Cavs had earmarked for rugged Crowder.

"He's going to have a lot of responsibility," Lue said of Green. "We call him the utility man and he has to be up for the challenge and I think he will be."

In four meetings against Indiana, Green matched up against Oladipo for just six possessions. Oladipo scored four points, making both of his shots. But it's hard to read too much into such a small sample size.

The Cavs are hoping Green's size, length, athleticism and quickness will be a factor. Even if Oladipo gets a step, Green has the length to recover and contest at the rim. This will also limit some of James' defensive responsibilities from past playoff runs, allowing him to expend more energy fueling Cleveland's offense.

On the other side, Green finished the regular season on a flurry, even hitting his outside shots at a consistent rate (9-of-17 from 3-point range).

That offensive impact, especially playing alongside Love and James, should give the Cavs an added boost.

"I think he's able to not only play inside-out and stretch the floor, but also to guard all five positions," Love said. "He's a lot like Bron in those ways. He's able to post up, he's able to pick-and-roll, even with me out there, if we're in a two-man pick-and-roll or a 77 action, we can go into it, he can roll, I can roll, we can both pop. I think that allows for more freedom on the offensive end. We get the ball to both sides and there's some sort of flow and continuity out there with Jeff, which is great. I think that as well as the defensive end, as he's just able to guard every position."

With the Crowder experiment failing and Smith slipping on defense, the Cavs needed to find someone else to fill that defensive stopper role.

They didn't know back in July that Green would be the answer. He'll have a chance to prove it starting this weekend.