The
Cleveland Cavaliers outscored the Minnesota Timberwolves 146-134 in an offensive showcase.
The stats in the table below are from Cleaning the Glass.
Now, let’s dive into the numbers.
- The Cavs registered their second-best offensive rating of the season (142.2). They put up a higher offensive rating in their Dec. 1 win over the Indiana Pacers. This, however, was the most impressive given the opponent. The Timberwolves came into this game with the fifth-best defensive rating.
- Both teams shot 50% from three. This helped boost both teams’ offenses, but neither shot a high volume. The Cavs took just 30 threes (21st percentile for frequency), and the Timberwolves attempted just 32.
- This was the second time the Cavs shot 50% or better from beyond the arc. The only other time they did was in their Dec. 22 win over the Charlotte Hornets.
- Cleveland went 23-31 (74.2%) on shots at the rim (72nd percentile). They also got to the rim often, as 36% of their shots came in the restricted area (70th percentile). You’re always going to have a good offense when you’re getting into the teeth of the defense as effectively as the Cavs were.
- The Cavaliers outscored the Timberwolves 68-58 in the paint. You have a good chance of winning when you control the paint.
- Minnesota had a 134.8 offensive rating (90th percentile). This was the Cavs’ third-worst defensive rating for a game this season. How much of that you want to attribute to Cleveland’s defense is up to you. Minnesota hit a lot of difficult shots in this one. “I think it was great,” Evan Mobley said about the defensive process. “We trusted the process that it would even out there. They still shot a pretty good percentage, but we shot better.”
- Mobley completed all eight of his looks in the restricted area. Cleveland’s bigs handily won the matchup with Minnesota’s front court. Mobley’s aggressiveness is a big reason why.
- Donovan Mitchell went 6-12 on shots outside of the paint. This accounted for 16 of his game-high 28 points. Mitchell had a tough time finishing inside. He went just 3-9 on shots in the paint, which included going 2-6 in the restricted area.
- The Cavaliers won the turnover battle 15-9. This was one of the big differences in a game both teams shot the ball so well from three in. Cleveland outscored Minnesota 22-16 on points off turnovers.
- Darius Garland didn’t commit a turnover. He’s committed just four combined turnovers in the last four games he’s played. This has led to an impressive assist-to-turnover ratio of 6.5.
- Darius Garland went 7-7 on midrange shots. Many of these included floaters once he got Rudy Gobert switched onto him. “He gets it up pretty quick, and he gets it up in the air,” Sam Merrill said about Garland’s floater. “It took him a little bit to get into that rhythm again to start this season with him coming back, but it looks really good right now.”
- The Cavs are 9-0 when Jarrett Allen takes 10 or more shots. He made a noticeable impact on both ends of the floor and finished with a team-high +22. Allen provided 16 points on 6-10 shooting.
- The Cavs are 9-5 when Sam Merrill starts. This was the first time he started with the core four this season. He started with them twice last season.
- This was the Cavs’ 22nd different starting lineup. Saturday’s unit outscored Minnesota by eight. This came after Thursday’s starters lost their minutes by 19.
- Merrill went 5-6 from three. He’s made five or more threes in four consecutive games, which is a team record.
- Jaylon Tyson had 23 of the team’s 36 bench points. Tyson went 4-4 from three and 9-12 from the field overall. He was the only Cavaliers reserve to score more than five points. Minnesota’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 54-36.
- The Cavs limited the Timberwolves to just 10 second-chance opportunities. Minnesota won the second-chance points battle 15-12.
- The Cavaliers registered a 131 half-court offensive rating (99th percentile). The hot outside shooting boosted this, but it doesn’t explain everything. This was as complete an offensive showing as we’ve seen from them this season. The process was phenomenal.
- Thirty-eight of the Cavs’ 55 field-goal makes were assisted.
- The Cavaliers had five players score 20 or more points: Mitchell (28), Mobley (24), Tyson (23), Garland (22), and Merrill (20).
