What is the story about?
The
Cleveland Cavaliers nearly coughed up a 29-point second-half lead to a bad Chicago Bulls team before escaping with a narrow 115-110 victory .
The stats in the table below are taken from Cleaning the Glass.
Now, let’s dive into the numbers.
- James Harden put up 36 points in a vintage performance. He did a good job of attacking off the dribble, getting to the line, and facilitating for his teammates. This led to him going 10-23 from the field with nine assists, seven rebounds, and five turnovers.
- Harden went 7-13 from three. The step-back triple — which has infuriated “purists” for nearly two decades — was in perfect form. He also did a good job of nailing catch-and-shoot opportunities. Overall, he’s been lethal from the outside since coming to Cleveland. He’s now shooting 46% from three in his 17 gams in a Cavaliers’ uniform.
- Harden drew two fouls on three-point shots. One of these fouls resulted in a seven-point possession. According to the FanDuel Sports Network Cleveland broadcast, this was the eighth and ninth times he’s drawn shooting fouls on three-point shots since coming to the Cavs. In total, he’s drawn a league-leading 50 fouls on outside attempts this season.
- Harden finished with double-digit free-throw attempts for the second game in a row and the fourth time since the trade. He went 9-11 from the charity stripe in the victory.
- Evan Mobley scored over 25 points for the third time in four games. He totaled 26 points on 12-19 shooting. The Cavs are now 4-2 on the season when he registers 25 or more points.
- Mobley feasted in the restricted area, converting 10 of his 14 shots at the rim (71.4%).
- Neither team could consistently finish at the basket, with both being below the 10th percentile in rim-shooting accuracy. The Cavs converted just 50% of their shots at the rim (4th percentile) while the Bulls converted just 51.3% (7th percentile).
- Cavaliers outside of Mobley went just 6-18 (33.3%) on shots in the restricted area. For context, the league average is 66.9%.
- Harden assisted on five of Mobley’s 12 made baskets.
- Four of Harden’s assists to Mobley came off screens. Their two-man game has continued to grow. After the victory, Harden told sideline reporter Serena Winters that they’ve been forced to use games as practice, given their limited time together. Performances like this show how they’ve been able to develop chemistry. All four baskets are in the clip below.
- Mobley led the team in plus/minus by being a +11. The Cavs played their best basketball with Mobley on the floor. Harden wasn’t far behind at +9.
- Mobley went 2-6 at the free-throw line. This has become an alarming trend for Mobley, who once again missed two clutch free throws. He’s now shooting just 48.3% from the line in March.
- The Cavs went just 21-31 (66.7%) on free-throw attempts.
- Cleveland converted 1-9 three-point attempts (11.1%) in the fourth quarter. The Cavs’ inability to consistently score late, combined with shaky defense, led to them almost choking away a 20-point fourth-quarter lead.
- The Bulls put up 37 fourth-quarter points. They did most of their damage in the paint during the final quarter as they went 10-14 in the fourth on their paint shot attempts (71.4%).
- Chicago’s bench outscored Cleveland’s reserves 43-22. The Bulls had three bench players finish with double-digit points: Rob Dillingham (17), Leonard Miller (10), and Guerschon Yabusele (10). The Cavs had none.
- Max Strus found his way into the closing lineup, despite going 0-5 from the field. Strus was held without a point and had a team-worst plus/minus of -7. This wasn’t Strus’s best game despite showing good activity off-ball and being a helpful rebounder.
- Cleveland won the second-chance points battle 14-8. The Cavaliers did a good job of controlling the glass, despite opting for several small-ball lineups. It’s worth pointing out that the Bulls are one of the smaller and faster teams in the league.
- Chicago was in the 27th percentile for transition offense efficiency. The Bulls picked up two wins against the Cavs earlier this season, largely due to their ability to run in the open floor. Cleveland did a much better job of limiting that this time around.
- Keon Ellis provided four stocks. He remains one of the most active defenders in the league for his size. Ellis finished with three steals and a block.
- Jaylon Tyson provided 18 points and 11 rebounds. Tyson needed this game after his struggles the last few weeks.
- The Cavs are now 5-4 when Donovan Mitchell doesn’t play. The Cavs have been at their best this season when Mitchell is on the floor. Even though this was an ugly win, victories have been hard to come by without their best player. He missed Thursday’s game with a left eye contusion.
