CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers had a conversation at halftime.
After a clunky first half on the offensive end of the floor, where coach J.B. Bickerstaff felt like there was too much dribbling, they felt like they weren’t exactly playing to their abilities and needed to turn up their level of energy.
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They responded to that message in the second half and beat the Detroit Pistons 114-90. The Cavs played with a higher sense of purpose and defensive urgency throughout the second half and moved the ball on the offensive end. It was the 21st time this season that the Cavs have held their opponent under 100 points.
Here are three observations from the Cavs’ win over the Pistons on Saturday night.
With about five minutes remaining in the third quarter, Mitchell drove to the basket and scored on a contested layup. Yet, as he turned toward the other end of the floor, he held his left hand to his chest. Jarrett Allen committed a transition take foul to get a stop and Mitchell was subbed out of the game. He headed back to the locker room with the training staff.
Mitchell returned to the floor a few minutes later with some of his fingers taped on his left hand, and it was announced that he had a left finger sprain and was probable to return. However, in the final quarter of the game, the Cavs had built a substantial lead against the Pistons, and Mitchell did not return.
“I haven’t seen the replay yet. I just know somehow he was hit on his middle finger,” Bickerstaff said. “There was no reason to put him in any risky situations.”
Mitchell finished the game with 20 points, shooting 8-of-17 from the field and 2-of-6 from 3. He also had three rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block in 24 minutes of play.
Mobley finds different ways in games to have a positive effect that doesn’t always appear in the stat sheet. Yet, Saturday night, he did.
Mobley made his presence known on both ends of the floor. He finished with a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds, as well as four blocks, six assists and one steal. Mobley recorded his 200th career block with his second block in the first half.
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“It’s super crazy to see, especially while he’s just so young,” Darius Garland said. “He just does everything on the floor defensively and offensively. It’s really good just having a guy like that, that can just switch off on guards, switch off on bigs, can really hold his ground and protect the rim like that. It’s really unique, especially at his age. We’re super happy to have him on our squad.”
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Garland had a hard time deciding what Mobley does best on the defensive end.
“He switches out one through five any time, protects the rim really well, slides his feet, contests all the shots — it’s really tough just pointing out one thing,” Garland said. “I think he’s an All-Defensive Team player, in my opinion, so I’m gonna go with that.”
But Mobley had a thought: He believes it’s how he contests shots. He knows how to use his length, as well as how to contain the ball and keep the ball in front. He understands how to use his verticality and not be called for fouls as he contests shots. Mobley is seventh in the league in average contested shots with 10.9 per game.
Mobley’s passing ability also creates a dynamic where the Cavs can have four guys on the floor who are an option. He can play in space and has a playmaking ability where he can put the ball on the floor and make a play.
Bickerstaff said that Mobley has an awareness that he described as high level. Mobley can anticipate so that he is a step ahead of the offense and can be in the right position.
“But he just has a presence to himself where he changes the game; he changes the way the opponents think when they’re trying to challenge the rim offensively,” Bickerstaff said. “They have to change when the ball’s in his hand, how they guard him because he’s capable of making all the passes. So I think it’s just that presence that you can feel whenever he’s on the floor.”
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Watching the Eastern Conference standings
Caris LeVert checks the NBA standings every day. He watches games constantly. The Cavs have had other late-night NBA games on in the locker room following games, and some guys pay attention to the outcomes of those games. Even Bickerstaff can’t completely shut the standings out.
“You take a peek at it, and then you kind of try to move forward from it, but you can’t really hide from it,” Bickerstaff said. “When you’re watching other teams play, everybody’s always talking about it, and it comes up, so it’s kind of hard to hide from it. So you are aware. But it’s one of those things where you try to just continue to focus on who you are and what you need to get done.”
They’ve also talked about the importance of home-court advantage in the playoffs. The Cavs sit at fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 40-26 record and would hold homecourt advantage in their current seeding position. There’s a level of importance to hold on to at least the fourth seed through this last stretch of the season. They also have just 16 regular-season games left.
“We realize in the last part of the season, they’re not going to give it to us,” Allen said. “We have to go take it. We want it; we just have to find a way to have it.”
While Garland said he doesn’t really check the standings, he understands that the home court in the playoffs matters.
“Having the crowd behind us really means a lot to us,” Garland said. “It’s like our sixth man just bringing the energy every night for us. Sleeping in your own bed definitely means a lot in the playoffs. Well, I don’t know, but I hear it from a lot of guys, it means a lot. Homecourt advantage would definitely mean a lot to us. Like I said, having the fans behind you, just having that feel that, you just feel comfortable in your home arena so home court is definitely a big thing for us.”
(Photo of Evan Mobley driving to the basket against the Pistons’ Marvin Bagley III in the fourth quarter Saturday: David Richard / USA Today)
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