CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers avoided what would’ve been a three-game losing streak as they defeated the Atlanta Hawks 117-109 on Sunday evening. It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. The Cavs will take that right now.
This version of the Cavs isn’t an elite team. Injuries play a big part in why that’s so, but to point to them as the only reason why things have looked rough would be disingenuous. This team currently has no offensive or defensive identity. So far, wins and losses have been determined
by whether Donovan Mitchell can do enough offensively to pull out a victory. That isn’t the mark of a title contender.
Fortunately for Cleveland, Mitchell was phenomenal once again. His off-the-dribble shooting saved an offensive attack that couldn’t generate anything going to the basket. He finished with 37 points while going 8-15 from three after missing Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors with a hamstring injury.
This was Mitchell’s 200th appearance with the team. No Cavalier has had a better winning percentage who’s played at least that many games. That’s impressive for a franchise that had LeBron James take them to five Finals appearances in the 11 years he was with the team.
The Cavs have needed him to be their only reliable source of offense in many of those 200 games. This one was no exception.
Afterward, Mitchell said that his hamstring was fine, but that he’s been sick this past week. No matter the reason, he hasn’t been getting to the basket like we’ve come to expect from him recently.
Mitchell attempted no shots at the rim tonight, and just four of his 21 attempts were in the paint. When that happens, it typically means he isn’t right physically.
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This is something we’ll keep an eye on for Mitchell. He’s known to downplay some of his injuries. He may be doing so again here.
It’s dangerous to rely on Mitchell this much. The Cavs came into the season wanting to lessen Mitchell’s burden. His body has broken down in the last two playoffs, partially because of the scoring load he had to carry throughout the season. So far, things are not trending in the right direction from that perspective.
The Hawks showed why point guards are so important. They were without Trae Young, who will be sidelined for at least four weeks with a knee injury. This left the playmaking duties to Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson. Both of which are better suited as secondary creators, as seen on Sunday.
The Cavs opened with a 16-2 run because Atlanta simply couldn’t stop turning it over. Cleveland was playing good defense, but turning it over four times in three minutes speaks more to offensive ineptitude than it does defensive brilliance. This was a precursor to what the evening was going to be like as they gave it away 22 times leading to 33 points off turnovers.
Atlanta wasn’t the only team that felt their lack of a starting point guard. Mitchell is a dynamic on-ball player, but he isn’t a point guard. His distribution mostly comes from drive-and-kick threes after he forces the defense to collapse. But when the spot-up shooters aren’t hitting threes, things become more difficult.
Right now, Cleveland is too reliant on the three-ball. Head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t have a number when asked about how many threes were too many afterward. Although whatever the threshold is, the 57 Cleveland took was too many.
“We have to find that balance,” Atkinson said. “I don’t think we’re a 60 threes a game team. I want to see the ball more at the rim. I want to see us get to the free-throw line. So we got to find ways to pierce the paint more.”
The Cavs do need to pierce the paint more. Whether or not they currently have the ball handlers to do so right now is a different question.
Last season’s Cavs needed Lonzo Ball. This team needs last year’s Ty Jerome and/or Caris LeVert.
Atkinson was asked pregame whether Ball has been helpful even though he hasn’t been scoring. Naturally, Atkinson said that he has.
“He’s doing everything we’ve asked,” Atkinson said. “Pitching the ball ahead, itching the ball across [the court]. Like I said at the beginning of the year, I want Lonzo to be Lonzo.”
And honestly, Ball has. He’s been helpful defensively, done a great job of setting the pace in transition, and his feel for the game is exceptional. That was clear on a night like this, where he played his best game of the season. Unfortunately, he — nor any of Cleveland’s other reserves — can fill the void his predecessors left behind.
This team desperately needs guards who can get into the teeth of the defense. Mitchell and Darius Garland can do that. None of the other guards on the roster, including Ball, can.
So far this season, 28 of Ball’s 38 shot attempts have been threes. This has led to just five free-throw attempts in 146 minutes. Those numbers aren’t too inconsistent with who he’s been as a player throughout his career, even if he’s taking slightly more threes than normal. The issue is that the Cavs currently need an additional ball handler who can get downhill and force the defense to rotate as a result.
It’s easy to romanticize skillsets or players that are no longer with the team. There’s a reason why the Cavs moved on from both. They were flawed score-first guards who had stretches of not being playable in the playoffs. That said, the skill set they provided off the bench when they were playing well is still important.
The Cavs needed someone who could playmake and play defense like Ball last postseason. If he’s on the floor against the Indiana Pacers last spring, they wouldn’t have lost Game 2 would’ve had a much better chance of holding on to their double-digit lead in Game 5. This year’s team — especially in the regular season — just needs more guys who can get to the basket. It’s that simple.
Garland’s return won’t entirely solve this issue. The offense will look considerably better when he’s back. He’ll be able to better set up the offense, get the bigs involved more, and make it a more north-and-south offense as opposed to the east-and-west one it is now.
At the same time, this team has too many play finishers (either shooters or rollers) than it does guys who can get downhill. And when the two players who can actually provide that are 6’2” and under, you’ll continue to run into walls in the postseason like this group continually has. That’s why Evan Mobley’s development continues to be the most important thing for this team this regular season.
Mobley’s offensive evolution won’t be a straight line. He struggled against Kristaps Porziņģis as he finished with 14 points on 6-16 shooting. This has been a theme against previous matchups against Porziņģis throughout his career, so Sunday’s performance wasn’t too surprising.
What is worth noting is how different his offense looked against Atlanta compared to the season-opener against the New York Knicks. He wasn’t the primary scoring option like he was back then. Instead, this showing looked more akin to last season, where Mobley was featured, but not as the primary focal point.
Figuring out what exactly Mobley’s offensive role should be is still a work in progress.
“We’ve had some conversations,” Atkinson said when asked about Mobley’s offense. “His usage is way up. Touches are way up, and all that is intentional. But sometimes, you have to pull it back a little in terms of leaning a little bit more back into his strengths so he gets a little bit more of a balance.”
Mobley has struggled with the increased usage. He hasn’t been the efficient scorer he was last season with the extra attention defenses are giving him.
“He’s in a situation that I kind of put myself in in Utah when I was with (head coach) Quin [Snyder],” Mitchell said of Mobley. “You’re told to go score, or go be that guy, but then the next part is reading that the defense knows that you’re trying to go score.”
Figuring out how to best prioritize Mobley’s development so that he can take the next step, while making sure the team’s offense is still at its best is a formula they’re still working to perfect.
“His strength on the offensive end is his mobility,” Atkinson said. “His ability to create separation by movement, moving around, whether it’s in the pick-and-roll or DHOs (dribble hand-offs) where he’s moving. … He’s at 10 isos a game. Can we get that down to seven? Maybe play a little more chase pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop? His strength is variety and skill. And my thing to him is that it will come out if you trust in the offense.”
Even though the Cavs haven’t had a smooth start to the season, they aren’t worried.
“When we’re healthy, we know the team we have,” Atkinson said. “We’re not panicking. We’re doing a lot of good things. But you know, this isn’t last year’s team. This is, in the NBA, this is a different season. … We just got to keep focus on the big picture.
“I’m actually not upset, like, we’re not, you know, 9-0 or whatever. That doesn’t [matter]. We’re kind of out of that game. We’re about the big picture. We want to be a team that improves during the year and is ready when the playoffs come.”
