CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Nearly two weeks before the playoffs began, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Tyronn Lue named Jeff Green a starter.

It wasn't necessarily a surprising move. All signs were pointing to it, as Lue spoke about Green's defensive versatility, a necessity in Cleveland's switch-heavy defensive approach. Lue also raved about how much Green's presence tends to help both LeBron James and Kevin Love.

But in Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon, Lue's lineup decision backfired and Green's presence restricted Cleveland's typically explosive offense.

In Green's first playoff game since 2016, when he was a member of the Los Angeles Clippers, the enigmatic forward scored zero points on 0-of-7 from the field and 0-of-3 from 3-point range. During his 26 disastrous minutes on the floor, the Pacers outscored the Cavaliers by 15 points, the game's worst mark.

"I have to look at it, but he has to be more aggressive attacking the basket, be more aggressive offensively," Lue said following the 98-80 loss. "Defensively, I thought he did some good things. Just running the floor more, playing with pace, rebound the basketball because he's playing the big, just playing with more energy."

As anticipated, the Pacers used starting center Myles Turner against Green, a strategy most teams will likely emulate if Cleveland makes it out of the first round.

"We'll look at it," Lue said. "We know he has to be better. He will be."

Turner's length kept Green from getting to the rim. Green also couldn't get any traction in the post or with isolations against the bigger, stronger defensive anchor. When Green wasn't stymied inside, he was floating out to the perimeter. But Turner -- and the Pacers -- showed no respect for Green's inconsistent outside shot.

Using that strategy, Indiana loaded up in the paint, bothering James and Cleveland's other drivers in a way that's become rare.

"We just tried to make it tough on LeBron, give him different looks, let him see bodies, get out to shooters as fast as possible and get great contests," Victor Oladipo said. "They didn't make shots that they probably normally make. We did a great job defensively just kind giving them different looks everywhere. We've got to be ready for Game 2. We've got to continue to build on that.

James managed just 24 points on an inefficient 7-of-17 from the field. This tactic also played a significant role in Love's ineffectiveness, as he scored just nine points on 3-of-8 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

Since Love's return from injury, the Cavs have preyed on helpless, spread-out defenses, especially with Love at center.

His floor spacing is too much and centers, used to lurking around the paint, have a tough time getting out to the arc to contest. But with Green in the lineup, the Pacers were able to use athletic stretch-forward Thaddeus Young against Love instead of Turner, wiping away the advantage Cleveland thought it was going to have by playing Love at the 5.

Green, who has earned the staff's trust in large part because of his defense, couldn't even make his mark on that end. He rarely defended Oladipo -- even though Lue hinted at that being his responsibility on Friday. And the Cavaliers posted a horrid 108.3 defensive rating with Green on the court.

It was a bad game all around for the Cavs, who have plenty of questions to answer prior to Wednesday's second game. This relatively inexperienced team is suddenly in unfamiliar territory, having to crawl out of an early-series deficit. The Cavs knew this would be a challenge, that they would have to learn on the fly.

But the dominoes to Sunday's loss started to fall about two weeks ago, with Lue's decision to start Green, something he may already have to rethink in this matchup.