Cavs Evan Mobley shooting prior to a game. ESPN Cleveland/RobLorenzo.
Game Night Obersvations: Shots falling, Mobley growing, and LeVert's comfort level
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After the poor shooting displays in Detroit and Toronto to open up this week, the Cleveland Cavaliers were due for a night like Wednesday in their 113-85 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The first half for Cleveland was arguably its most complete of the season, and an 11-0 run to open up the third quarter pushed the lead as high as 32 points, all but ensuring the outcome far before the final buzzer. The game as a whole, was the closest that the Cavaliers have played this season, at least according to the standard set by head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
“Step closer. We still had our moments,” Bickerstaff said. But no, I thought they did. I thought they really did tonight play both ends of the floor and execute what we were trying to do for the majority of the game. I think this was one of those games that we can look back on and reflect that's the job that we're looking for and the game we're looking for.”
There’s never going to be a perfect game played in the NBA, but the Cavs put forth one of their best efforts of the season on Wednesday night. Part of it was a strong defensive gameplan and part of it was the team seemingly making up for all of the missed shots that occurred against the Pistons and Raptors earlier this week.
In the win, Caris LeVert finished with a game-high 22 points, Darius Garland had 21, Donovan Mitchell had 18, and Evan Mobley had 16. Isaac Okoro also had 11 off the bench in a well spread out scoring distribution.
In the two previous games, the Cavs shot just a shade over 40% from the floor and 22.7% from beyond the arc. At the final buzzer on Wednesday, the Cavs shot 60.8% from the floor and 51.7% from beyond the arc. When the Cavaliers pushed their lead to 30 points with 9:04 left in the third quarter at 78-48, the team was shooting both 73% from the floor and from beyond the arc. It was a lights out shooting display that certainly isn’t sustainable, just as the poor shooting from the past couple of games wasn’t either.
With that said, the Cavs are likely a team that’s closer to the one that played Wednesday night than the one on the road trip in Detroit and Toronto.
Evan freaking Mobley, man
Lately, Mobley has been the best player for the Cavs, and that was true on Wednesday night.
Him being the best player on the floor isn’t necessarily what should be encouraging, rather that he’s starting to show more and more glimpses of what he can be. Mobley’s game is starting to expand on both ends of the floor. While he continues to be rather far from a finished product, he’s showing more and more that he’s constantly growing closer to becoming an All-Star level player.
Wednesday night, he finished with 16 points on 8-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds. Defensively, he handled Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid about as well as could be asked – even if that is a total team effort.
Advanced metrics haven’t been kind to Mobley at times this year, but that’s something that hasn’t matched the eye test, if we’re being honest. Has Mobley been great night in and night out? Maybe not. But he’s not been bad, as some metrics might suggest.
On Wednesday night, he was the best player on the floor in a game that the Cavs needed to win.
A confidence building night for LeVert
There’s been quite a bit of discourse surround LeVert and what he brings to the floor on a nightly basis. In his time with the Cavs, he’s been rather inconsistent, especially when it comes to shooting. On Monday night – his first game back from a four-game absence due to an ankle injury – LeVert had eight points on 2-of-9 shooting. Wednesday, he was lights out, making 8-of-11 shots, including 3-of-4 3-point attempts.
“The ball went into the basket. I think that gave him confidence,” Bickerstaff said. “But again, I’ve been watching him work and you see the energy he puts into it. We know what he’s capable of, right? It’s on us to put him into position to be successful. It’s on his teammates to get him the ball in those positions, get him as comfortable as we can. He’s capable of doing these things.”
There are going to be nights when LeVert misses shots. The key for the Cavs is to minimize thoughts nights and find consistency in his role, which could lead to consistency in his performance. So far this season, LeVert has been asked to be in a number of different roles. He’s been a starter, asked to carry more of a burden with Garland or Mitchell out, and now, come off the bench. Most guys won’t see their job shift that often in a single season, let alone in a 22-game stretch. Adding in that he’s missed time with an injury makes things even more difficult.
“It was kind of mutual,” LeVert said of conversations about coming off the bench with Bickerstaff. “I kind of told him I wanted to come off the bench. He had the same thoughts as well.”
Wednesday was an argument for LeVert coming off the bench, and a strong one at that. Instead of having to share the floor with two other ball dominant players in Mitchell and Garland, he splits time between them. That makes life easier for everybody.
“He was looking for his shot and trying to get downhill,” Garland said of LeVert’s play on Wednesday. “Just trying to be aggressive and being him. We loved it. I know he did, just getting his rhythm back and making shots, seeing it go through the rim, his confidence definitely building from tonight. Happy to have him back out there, being aggressive and being him.”
It could be argued that LeVert should have been coming off the bench the entire time for the Cavs, but that’s a different discussion for a different day. Even so, Wednesday was a glimpse into what LeVert can do in this role. The next step is seeing it consistently.
Quick hits- The 44 points scored by the Cavs in the second quarter on Wednesday night is the most points the team has scored in a single quarter all season. The previous high was 40 points against the Timberwolves in the fourth quarter on Nov. 13.
- Cedi Osman moved into eighth place in Cavs history in made 3-pointers with his first make on Wednesday night. He surpassed Danny Ferry, who has 843.
- Wednesday night was the first matchup of the season between the Cavs and Sixers and the teams will play a total of three times in the regular season. It’s very conceivable that the Cavs and Sixers are fighting for playoff positioning as the season comes to close in April. If that’s the case, the tiebreaker could come into play. The Cavs now just need to win one of the two remaining games against Philadelphia in order to clinch it. That could be a big deal when it comes to first round positioning.
