Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland with Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.
Game Night Observations: Mitchell's superstardom, Allen's return, and honoring LeBron
You must have an active subscription to read this story.
Click Here to subscribe Now!
Danny Cunningham covers the Cleveland Cavaliers for 850 ESPN Cleveland and TheLandOnDemand.comAnytime LeBron James walks into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to be reminded of their past. He’s the best player in franchise history, raised the only championship banner in its history, and will one day have his number hanging next to Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ in the rafters.
Tuesday night, though, was a little bit different. It wasn’t just that the Cavaliers were reminded of what James has meant and always will mean to the franchise, but it also served as a moment where Donovan Mitchell made a statement of his own, too.
James’ time with the franchise is in the past. It will always be remembered and revered, and it should be. It was the most special run the Cavaliers have ever had.
Mitchell’s time is just beginning for the Cavaliers. His legacy in Cleveland is being built on a daily basis with plenty of moments that lie ahead, but Tuesday was one of them.
Mitchell finished the night with a game-high 43 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter to lead the Cavaliers to a 116-102 win over the Lakers on Tuesday night. His fourth quarter was a masterclass of how to attack the basket, knock down outside shots, create for others, and create havoc defensively.
Simply put, Mitchell was a superstar for the Cavaliers on Tuesday night. He continues to be the superstar the Cavaliers traded for, and so much more than that.
“I had a bunch of conversations with people who had worked with him in the past, and they raved about him,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the win. “But, you never really know until you get a guy in your building and you're with him every single day. And he has exceeded all things that we thought and what people had said about him. It's not easy to be as talented as he is and to fit as seamlessly as he does.”
Right now, this is Mitchell’s team. He’s the engine that makes all of this go. He’s the guy that’s built for these moments. He’s not going to be successful in all of them – no one is – but he’s not going to wilt under the pressure of any of them either.
Tuesday night was a test for the Cavs. Not because the Lakers – sitting at 10-13 on the season after the loss – are some juggernaut or that this is a potential matchup in the playoffs. It was a measuring stick to see how the Cavaliers could handle a moment that wasn’t just any regular season game. James being in town is still a big deal and it always will be. It’s his homecoming and it’s special to most people that are in the building.
“It doesn’t matter who it is, you always want to spoil the homecoming. That’s just the competitor in you, you always want to do that,” Mitchell said after the win. “I’m not the type to be like, all right, let’s ignore the fact that he’s back. You know, I was watching him as a kid. It was pretty dope, I sat there, watching the crowd giving him a standing ovation, that was cool. That was great to see. At the same token, when you allow yourself to be a part of the moment but understand that you can’t let that take you away from getting the stop, boxing out, getting rebound, being in different situations, that was just my message tonight. You can’t run away from it, you gotta be able to embrace it, understand it’s gonna be there and you’re gonna feel that emotion.”
Thanks to Mitchell, they passed this test with flying colors.
The return of Jarrett Allen
For as good as Mitchell was, he didn’t play all that well until midway through the second quarter. The biggest reason that the Cavaliers were able to stay afloat early was the return of Jarrett Allen to the lineup. Allen finished the night with 24 points and 11 rebounds while returning from a five-game absence due to a lower back contusion.
Early in the game, Allen was a force. In the first quarter he put up 14 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor.
So much of the identity for the Cavs is tied up into who Allen is on the floor. For as great as Mitchell and Darius Garland are and Evan Mobley could be, Allen is the one who ties it all together. He’s the one that makes everything work, even if it’s only been viewable in flashes this year because of injuries.
Tuesday night was just the 12th time this season the Cavs have had all four of Mobley, Allen, Garland, and Mitchell together in the starting lineup. For as good as that group has been, it hasn’t spent much time playing together yet. Overall, the Cavs are now 7-5 on the season when that foursome is all in the starting lineup, but they are 5-1 since Caris LeVert was moved out of the starting lineup and into a sixth man role.
Offensively, Allen pairs so well with both Mitchell and Garland in the pick-and-roll. Prior to Allen’s latest injury, the pick-and-roll duo of he and Mitchell was the most efficient in the NBA, generating 1.34 points per possession, according to Second Spectrum. . The gap between that and the next-best was almost as large as the gap between the second-best and the fifth-best, which, coincidentally, was Mitchell and Mobley at 1.18 points per possession.
For the Cavaliers to have duos that good, despite not spending a ton of time on the floor together yet, is a terrific sign moving forward.
“I mean, it, by the numbers, is elite pairings,” Bickerstaff said. “It's not just as easy as it may look, it's more scientific than we give it credit for. Understanding angles, understanding timing, understanding defenses and rotations, it's calculated. I think from both standpoints, Jarrett has the calculations down, the guards have the calculations down. It's just more so about them playing more together and the more they play together the more lethal it's gonna be.”
While there’s little to no question that right now Mitchell is the team’s best player and its most vital, Allen isn’t too far off in terms of how vital he is to the success of the Cavs, and that was once again evident on Tuesday night.
Honoring LeBron
The Cavs played a tribute video for James during the first media timeout of the game. The video was roughly 45 seconds in length and at its conclusion showed James as he was walking back onto the court following the timeout. He then received a standing ovation and acknowledged the crowd.
it wasn’t the first time the Cavaliers have done this, and it shouldn’t be the last time the Cavaliers do this.
For anyone else, once would be enough, but for James, it just isn’t. And that’s OK.
James means more to this franchise than any player ever has, and possibly than any player ever will. He is, depending on your personal rankings, at worst the second-best player to ever play the game of basketball.
There are certainly a number of significant reasons that Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse and Cleveland Clinic Courts both have a banner hanging from the rafters celebrating the franchise’s 2016 championship. There’s not a bigger reason than James, though.
This isn’t honoring a role player that was part of the team like Richard Jefferson or Channing Frye. This isn’t even like honoring the guy who hit the go-ahead shots in the waning seconds of Game 7 in Kyrie Irving – although that certainly became more complicated over the past few months.
This is honoring the guy who made it all possible. The guy who is from here, the guy who chose to come back to Cleveland, the guy who is the greatest Cavalier in history. It’s just different than anything else. And that’s OK.
The Cavaliers were right to honor James again this time. They were also right to get it out of the way early in the game. Let James share that moment with the fans in the first quarter before getting back to business. The Cavs handled it perfectly on Tuesday, and when the Lakers come to town again next season, they should do the same exact thing.
Quick hits- The Cavaliers moved to 11-1 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse with the win on Tuesday night. They own the best home record in the NBA. Phoenix has one more win than the Cavs do at home, but it has an additional loss, too.
- During halftime on Tuesday night, there was a perogie eating contest that had a last-minute addition to it. That addition, of course, was none other than the greatest competitive eater of all-time in Joey Chestnut. If you’re familiar with Chestnut’s work, no explanation is necessary. If you’re not familiar with it, a simple explanation won’t suffice. Upon his arrival, Chestnut scarfed down 47 perogies in two minutes. If we’re counting him as a halftime performer now, he’s immediately near the very top of the power rankings.
- The Cavaliers remain in third place in the Eastern Conference with the win. They hold a 2.5-game lead over the Atlanta Hawks and Indiana Pacers for that spot. The Milwaukee Bucks are currently the team directly in front of the Cavs with a two-game cushion between them.
- Up next for the Cavs is another reunion of sorts. They’re in action on Friday night at home against the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are coached by Mike Brown, who served as head coach of the Cavaliers on two occasions.
