Evan Mobley’s near triple double was a reminder of how special he is.
The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Sacramento Kings tonight 123-118. Let’s see who won and lost the game.
WINNER – Evan Mobley is a Star
Evan Mobley had 19 points on 8-14 shooting in the first half tonight. A stellar performance that deserves all the praise we’ll soon give. But, after a similar first half the other night, we couldn’t help but worry that Mobley would disappear in the second and third quarters again, as he did in Charlotte.
Mobley didn’t take his foot off the gas this time.
The third quarter was a huge relief. Mobley continued to get to the rim and put pressure on SAC’s questionable interior defense. He worked his way up to 27 points by the end of the third frame, sustaining the aggression he showed in the first half.
Mobley finished with 29 on 13-24 shooting. He had a near triple-double with 13 rebounds, 8 assists, and 4 blocks. That’s a beastly performance.
We don’t need Mobley to press the issue if he doesn’t have a favorable matchup or simply isn’t making shots on any given night. But when it is his night — when he does have an advantage and is getting to his spots comfortably — that’s when we need to see his usage skyrocket. Just like tonight.
LOSER – 3PT Defense
Quick trivia: Do you know which NBA team allows the highest opponent three-point percentage in the league? If you’ve watched the Cavs this season, you already know the answer.
Yep, Cleveland ranks dead last in opponent three-point percentage. A spot they won’t be in danger of losing if they play defense like they did tonight. The Kings enjoyed a full half of 60% shooting from behind the arc as the Cavaliers were a step too slow to closeout on shooters.
Obviously, three-point defense can be complicated. We wrote about that earlier today. But while the Kings were making some difficult shots, they were also generating too many easy ones. We all understand how momentum works, right? A few easy shots can give you the confidence to take and make the challenging ones. It’s not easy to put the jeenie back in the bottle.
Or in this case, slow down a team that’s already feeling themselves.
The Kings eventually did return to earth, ending the night above league-average from deep but crashing down from their scorching first half. I’d say the Cavs played a better defensive game in the second half, but they can’t continue to spot opponents free threes in the first.
WINNER – Rebounding
This King’s team doesn’t have much going for it. That’s not meant to be a diss, it’s just the truth. However, one thing they absolutely do have is strength and physcality. Those two things don’t always result in rebounding, but for a Cavalier team that has struggled with physicality, you’d assume the glass could have been a problem tonight.
Cleveland took care of business in that department, winning the rebounding battle 48-43. The Cavs had six more offensive rebounds and limited the Kings to 13 second-chance points. Win on the margins, win the game.
LOSER – Bench Scoring
There’s more to basketball than scoring points. I understand that. The Cavalier bench has mainly given value through their defensive effort and intensity (though those have been questionable at times, too).
But getting buckets is still the name of the game. And this Cavalier bench, even on their best nights, isn’t providing much offense.
Cleveland’s bench was outscored 73-23. You read that correctly. Now, the Kings had Domantas Sabonis come off the bench, which partially skews this number — but even if you remove his 24 points — the Cavs bench still got beat handily.
Again, there’s more to this game than scoring. But it’s a problem when your second units are routinely being outscored. I mean, that’s kind of the entire point of the game. The Cavalier bench is 24th in points per game this season.
Category: General Sports
