The Cleveland Cavaliers capped off a weekend of hoops with a comeback win over the Chicago Bulls. Let’s get into who stole the show, for better or worse.
WINNER – Ankle Breakers
It’s been a while since we’ve seen an ankle breaker
as nasty as this one. De’Andre Hunter quite literally caused Josh Giddey’s ankle to roll with a wicked double crossover in the third quarter — then followed it up with a massive, crowd-popping dunk.
Giddey appeared to be genuinely hurting after this play. So, we don’t want to add any insult to injury. But… I mean, come on. This was awesome. Giddey returned to finish the game after a brief trip to the locker room.
WINNER – Sam Merrill’s court vision
Merrill has been on a mission to start the season. He’s already shooting the lights out from deep… but he wants to be seen as more than a three-point specialist. Merrill said before the season that he has more to his game. He showed that in the first quarter tonight, throwing out four assists in the opening minutes.
“He always tells me he was a point guard in college — I still gotta go back to the tape to confirm that,” said Kenny Atkinson after the game. “He’s creating advantages in the paint and doing more, it reminds me of Joe Harris in Brooklyn.”
The Cavs don’t often run pick-and-rolls with Merrill handling the ball. But they did so multiple times in the opening quarter, with Merrill slipping a pocket pass to Jarrett Allen for three consecutive assists. He also threw a lob in transition — convincing me that he’s been watching Steve Nash film in his free time. Merrill finished with 8 assists.
LOSER – Cavs perimeter defense
The Cavs dug themselves a hole in the first half. They couldn’t contain dribble drives, and they weren’t scrambling to protect the three-point line either. Chicago had multiple free lanes to the basket — and if that didn’t work, they always had an open three-point shot as an alternative.
Chicago began the game shooting 10-14 from deep as they carried a 16-point lead into halftime. There are various things that contribute to this. Poor communication. Bad point of attack defense. And, to their credit, a surging Bulls team that has used pace to its advantage all season long.
On this note, lineups featuring Tyrese Proctor, Craig Porter Jr. and Jaylon Tyson teach you something valuable about Darius Garland. Being a quick, experienced guard with a high-defensive IQ can make up for a lot. Garland wouldn’t have changed this game defensively on his own. But he likely would have stayed in position and conceded fewer breakdowns.
WINNER – Evan Mobley
Cleveland entered the second half without any momentum. It wasn’t until Mobley put his stamp on this game that the Cavs began to claw back. Mobley scored or assisted on 12 straight points to start the second-half comeback. He did it all while putting pressure on the rim, attacking the basket and spraying it out to three-point shooters whenever Chicago overplayed their hand.
“That’s the kind of Evan we need,” said Atkinson. “He let the game come to him, he was getting to the rim, putting his head down and being aggressive.”
The Cavs eventually rallied all the way back to reclaim the lead behind some dazzling shot-making from De’Andre Hunter and Donovan Mitchell. But make no mistake, it was Mobley who started this run.
LOSER – Cavs perimeter shooting
Well, if the Bulls were on fire in the first half, Cleveland was the opposite. The Cavs shot 7-25 from deep in the opening half. Donovan Mitchell, who has otherwise been electric to start the season, began the game 0-5 from deep and 1-10 from the floor overall. Jaylon Tyson, Lonzo Ball and Dean Wade combined to shoot 0-6 from the three-point line during the first half.
Shooting this poorly is code for disaster against a team that loves to run in transition, like Chicago. All of Cleveland’s long misses were turned into run-out opportunities. The Bulls had 19 fastbreak points in the first half.
“Part of the problem was in the first half, we were missing so much,” said Atkinson. “So when you’re constantly missing and constantly running back… you could be a perfect transition team but you’re still going to get hurt.“
This type of poor shooting can also be an indicator of a bad offensive process. The Cavs were a team that struggled to score in the paint during the early portion of the season without Darius Garland. They then pummeled teams in the paint once he returned. To no surprise, they’re right back to relying on the three-point line in Garland’s absence. Something tells me he might be important to the team.
WINNER – Second Half Cavalanches
For all the negatives we saw in the first half, the Cavs were equally as impressive in the second. Sure, the defense still had some warts and breakdowns that put the comeback in jeopardy. But this was a gritty, scrappy second half that fueled an offensive explosion on the other end.
Did I mention that Mitchell shot 1-10 from the floor for only 3 points in the first half? Well, he shot 9-14 in the second half, finshing with 29 points to carry the Cavaliers across the finish line with his pull-up jumper and bulldozing drives to the basket. It was Mitchell who bullied his way to the rim on consecutive possessions to keep Cleveland in the lead. This was his show in the fourth quarter.
The Cavs still haven’t had their first official Cavalanche, fake snow, free Frosty’s and all, but tonight’s game was as close to matching the vibe of a Cavalanche as you can get. They outscored Chicago 72-50 in the second half to secure their fourth straight win. It wasn’t pretty, but it was adrenaline-pumping.
