Cavs guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. ESPN Cleveland/Rob Lorenzo
Game Night Observations: Mitchell's MVP play and the winning lineup
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.Donovan Mitchell got beat defensively, again, with 10:20 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Cavaliers down by 12 points. It was an encapsulation of the night to that point for the NBA’s best defense. For the first three quarters, Cleveland’s perimeter defense was treated like a turnstile by Indiana, allowing free run at the rim whenever Pacers guards desired.
This time, Mitchell was rightfully whistled for a foul on Pacers rookie guard Bennedict Mathurin. They both ended up with their hands on the basketball after the whistle, with neither letting go.
Ultimately, after a 14 second standoff, Mitchell emerged with the ball, raising it above his head with his right hand to a standing ovation from the crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. It was a moment, that in the box score, meant nothing.
But to the Cavs, on a night when the team was admittedly sleepy and lethargic, it was a moment that meant everything.
“You don't poke the bear,” Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “And they poked him and he went on and did what he did.”
What Mitchell did was put the Cavaliers on his back during the fourth quarter en route to a 118-112 come-from-behind win over the Pacers. Mitchell had 41 points, marking his third 40-point effort as a member of the Cavaliers, including 18 points in the fourth quarter alone.
Mitchell was every bit the MVP candidate he’s been for the Cavaliers all season on Friday night. He has shown the ability to find an additional gear in his game when his team needs it. That was on display Wednesday in Dallas, and it was on display again Friday night against the Pacers.
Often, taking his game to the next level means putting the team on his back offensively.
Friday night, it was more than that. It was stepping up defensively in the fourth quarter and helping to hold the Pacers to just 18 points in the period. It was trusting in his teammates, like Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, and Caris LeVert to take and make big shots down the stretch. Above all else, it may have been the fact that Mitchell was willing to earn a technical foul in a scuffle for the basketball at a moment that had no other statistical impact on the game. Leadership comes in all shapes and sizes, and that’s exactly what Mitchell showed on Friday night.
““It added a lot. That’s just our fight. I knew Don was not going to let that ball go,” Garland said of Mitchell’s play. “When we saw that, we were like, ‘OK, gotta turn up the physicality and turn up the aggressiveness.’ That’s what we did.”
From that moment on, the Cavaliers were a different basketball team than the one that played the first 37 minutes of the game. When Mitchell and Mathurin were tied up, the Cavaliers were losing 98-86. From that moment on they outscored the Pacers 32-14, with Mitchell having 16 of the 32 points for the Cavs.
“Yeah, it's just about toughness. I was willing to get a technical foul for that. I think for me, leadership comes in different forms, and that's one of them,” Mitchell said. “I think for me just trying to set that tone that we're just not gonna back down and that's really all that was.”
The leadership combined with what he’s able to do for the Cavaliers offensively is not only what makes him the most valuable player the Cavaliers have, but a player that deserves to be mentioned with other stars across the league for the NBA MVP.
Closing time
On Friday night, the Cavaliers closed the game with Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and LeVert for the final eight minutes.
That was the team’s starting lineup at the beginning of the year before Bickerstaff and the rest of the coaching staff decided it was best to move LeVert to come off the bench. On Friday night it was something they could go back to and still have comfort with because it had spent time together before and it worked out to perfection.
Mobley was the last of the five to check back into the game in the fourth quarter, replacing Cedi Osman with 8:27 left in the game. From that point on the Cavaliers outscored the Pacers 22-9. Their advanced numbers for that stretch were as good as it gets. The group played at a blistering pace offensively of 169.2 points per 100 possessions in the final eight minutes of the game while pacing out to allow just 64.3 points per 100 possessions.
Simply put, the Pacers had no answer for what that group did for the Cavs.
“It just was a bunch of guys that they were really concerned about and a bunch of guys that could put the ball on the floor and beat you,” Bickerstaff said of the lineup. “[The Pacers] They wanna play smaller, where they're putting their matchups and those types of things. I think it gave us an advantage because all those guys are capable of creating in their own way.”
One big moment that came from that lineup was when Mobley made his only 3-pointer of the night from the right corner. That basket cut Indiana’s lead to just one. It was a big shot from Mobley, and a sign of his continued development from outside. It’s a shot that he works on after nearly every single practice and shootaround the team holds. Seeing it come to fruition in a big moment like this one is part of the growing process for the second-year player.
Quick hits- After the game Bickerstaff mentioned that Cedi Osman wasn’t in the rotation against the Mavericks on Wednesday night due to a “matchup thing.” Osman provided a boost off the bench for the Cavaliers in Friday night’s win over the Pacers with 14 points in 20 minutes. With the Cavs squaring off once again with the Mavericks on Saturday, it will be curious if Osman is in the rotation.
- The Cavaliers improved to 13-2 at home with the victory over the Pacers. They’re tied for the best home record in the NBA with the Memphis Grizzlies.
