Cavs guard Donovan Mitchell against the Atlanta Hawks in a preseason game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. ESPNCleveland/Rob Lorenzo
Donovan Mitchell filled it up as a scorer against Toronto, but his passing stood out too
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Danny Cunningham covers the Cavs for ESPN Cleveland and TheLandOnDemand.com
Donovan Mitchell was placed into a familiar yet unexpected role on Wednesday night when Cavs point guard Darius Garland was forced to leave the game with an eye injury.
Instead of being able to play off the ball at times while Garland ran the offense and operate in a plethora of space, Mitchell operated as the team’s point guard the entire time he was on the floor in the second half.
That role is far from an easy task, but it’s one that Mitchell excelled at. It also gives a glimpse into not only what the offense can be when he operates while Garland is on the bench, but also what the duo can do once things are figured out offensively. Mitchell’s passing ability isn’t one of the top reasons that the Cavaliers traded for him, but it was on display on Wednesday night, and it was impressive.
In the loss, Mitchell finished with 31 points, but added nine assists with stellar passing. That number could have been higher, too. Nine assists doesn’t do total justice to how good Mitchell was at putting his teammates in position to be successful. His passes were crisp and typically on the mark. Not including any instances when teammates were fouled, Mitchell had 14 potential assists against the Raptors.
During the game, Mitchell accounted for 52 of the team’s 105 points by either scoring or assisting. That number could have ballooned above 60, especially considering the quality of some missed chances by the Cavs off of Mitchell’s playmaking.
The Cavs ran the below action a few times against the Raptors. Mitchell is so good with his first step that the point of attack defender doesn’t really have a chance to contain him, forcing help from all areas.
With three Raptors converging on him, the defender from the weak-side corner is then forced to help on the interior with Jarrett Allen, which creates more than 10 feet of space between Cedi Osman and his defender. The result is an easy catch-and-shoot look that gets knocked down.
This action produced another wide-open look for Osman in the right corner just a minute later.
Later in the second quarter, a very similar action, this time with Mitchell on the right wing instead of the left, produced another made basket from Osman in the right corner. Mitchell created three great looks for a teammate on this action alone in a six-minute stretch of gametime.
What’s fun to think about with this type of action is if Garland is the guy in the corner instead of Osman. Garland is by all standards a better outside shooter than Osman is, and it could also lead to Mitchell having more space to attack the basket instead of having as many guys close upon him, or it could create an easy drop off to Allen for a dunk.
Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was asked about what Garland having more catch and shoot opportunities could do for the offense, and it’s easy to see it fitting in this exact action for the Cavs.
“We talk about the gravity of guys, we've talked about that in the past with Kevin for example,” Bickerstaff said. “They're not gonna leave him. Everybody in the league is on high alert that these guys are capable shooters and scorers, so you're less likely to overcommit to the strong side of the floor when those guys are on the weak side. When they do come, typically they're gonna be late, and now you're trying to work a two-way stunt instead of being in your position already and being able to close out and do both.”
The first night for the Cavs didn’t go as planned in large part due to Garland’s injury, but it’s easy to imagine how good this offense might look when both he and Mitchell are on the floor together. Mitchell may not be the same level of passer that Garland is, and he doesn’t need to be, but he showed on Wednesday night that he’s more than capable of being a terrific playmaker for others.
