According to Cleveland Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley, this season has been different in nearly every way imaginable. Mind you, it wasn't for what Mobley was doing on the court. Instead, it was the fact that Mobley has missed so much time this year due to random injuries, forcing him to sit and wait to hone his craft further.
But even when Mobley was away from action, he was still quietly observing how the Cavs were functioning without him on the floor. He studied where he could complement existing strengths or how he could fix glaring issues. So, when he made his home debut against the Charlotte Hornets after missing nine games, Mobley had put what he had studied into motion.
In a little over 24 minutes of action, Mobley was incredible. When the final buzzer sounded, he had 17 points on 66.7% shooting, seven rebounds and eight assists. While the counting stats may not jump out, even with the career-high assist total, Mobley didn't look like a player who had missed 32 games for the Cavs.
Instead, Mobley looked like a player who had been a part of everything on either end of the floor for Cleveland, carrying them as their best overall player.
“Evan has always been a guy who impacts winning on a high level,” said Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff postgame. “I think he can impact it in so many ways and that's the thing people don't appreciate about Evan. Everybody wants to talk about score, score, score. But, Evan is elite all around and and just impacts winning by making the right plays at the right time.”
Evan Mobley's two-way dominance
As Bickerstaff noted, Mobley's offensive production was why Cleveland easily dominated Charlotte. But, on defense, it was just another day in the office for Evan Mobley, especially now that he's re-found his groove with frontcourt partner Jarrett Allen.
“We’ve been elite defensively when those guys are on the floor for a reason,” Bickerstaff said. “They are so good together. We’re fortunate enough that we can always have one of them on the floor. But when it’s winning time and you need to close the game, to have two elite rim protectors who can switch one through five, teams aren’t fortunate enough to have that like are.”
The duo of Mobley and Allen did an excellent job of protecting the rim. Charlotte only converted 55.6% of their shots in the restricted area for the game, which best shows where having both Mobley and Allen on the floor helped most. It also helps that the duo helped the Cavs limit 3-point attempts (the Hornets were 9-28 from three-point range), gobbling up defensive boards (Mobley and Allen combined for 17 of Cleveland's 38 defensive rebounds), and forcing turnovers (the Hornets had 11, which led to 15 easy points for the Cavs).
Cleveland is at its best when they control an opponent with its defensive prowess. That doesn't happen unless the Cavs have Mobley on the floor, acting as the difference-maker he always is. But, more importantly, Mobley's offensive game is beginning to match his mammoth defensive potential, showing signs of the player many hoped he would be in his third season.
While it was only one game against the lowly Hornets, it does give a blueprint for when Mobley is at his apex as a player. Once Cleveland is fully healthy again, and Mobley continues to play at this level, no team will want to deal with them in the playoffs.
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