The Cleveland Cavaliers took down the Milwaukee Bucks 118-106. It wasn’t a complete performance by any stretch, but it was much better than Cleveland’s last two outings.
Even so, Kenny Atkinson wasn’t impressed with the win.
“I don’t know, I’m glad we pulled it out,” Atkinson said when asked what he thought afterward.
“The game’s not going to go into the Hall of Fame for the Cavs. How should I say this? It’s not smooth sailing right now. … We won the game, great, but we’re a little clunky on both sides
of the ball.”
The Cavaliers didn’t win the possession battle. They’ve made controlling the ball a focus of theirs this season. They grabbed their fewest offensive rebounds and turned it over on 18% of their possessions. That’s their second-worst percentage of the season. This led to the Cavaliers taking 14 fewer shots from the field despite having just six more free-throw attempts.
From that perspective, this wasn’t a good game.
The Cavs are “clunky” on both sides of the ball. Their offense wasn’t as smooth as you’d hope, and there were some blown defensive assignments. They still haven’t reached a level of sharpness that they routinely hit last season.
That’s frustrating on a night like this, where they were given almost a free pass with Giannis Antetokounmpo being limited to just 13 minutes due to a groin strain. There’s no telling how this game goes if the possible MVP favorite played all four quarters.
One of the most frustrating things about the Cavs right now is their inconsistencies.
“Yes and no, to be honest with you,” Atkinson said when asked if he’s seeing signs that his team is starting to figure it out. “I feel like it’s coming, then we kind of regress back.”
That all said, there were positives to take from this game.
Sam Merrill, who isn’t exactly known for sugar coating things, didn’t have as scathing a review of the team’s performance.
“It’s definitely not perfect,” Merrill admitted. “But I do feel like we are talking about the right things. … But I would bet that if, when we go back and watch [the game], there’s gonna be a lot of stuff offensively where we’re trying to do exactly what we’re [doing].”
And statistically, Merrill isn’t wrong.
The Cavs registered the following on Monday:
- Their best single-game effective field-goal percentage
- Their second-highest three-point percentage
- Their second-highest percentage of attempts at the rim
- Their second-highest completion percentage at the rim
- Their fifth-best offensive rating in the half-court (103.5)
This all didn’t lead to a great offensive rating because of their turnovers, lack of offensive rebounding, and inability to get to the line. But you don’t achieve those things without doing at least some stuff right.
Merrill was fantastic. It appeared like he was going to leave the game early after he left for the locker room in the first half with head athletic trainer Stephen Spiro because of a finger injury. Merrill said his finger felt “fantastic” when asked about it postgame, and understandably so given the performance he put on.
Merrill went 6-9 from beyond the arc en route to 20 points and five rebounds.
Support us and Let ‘Em Know with Homage!
Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE. The link to the Donovan Mitchell NBA Jam shirt is HERE.
Even more than his scoring, Merrill’s shooting gravity helps the entire offense.
“You have to account for somebody who’s non-stop moving,” Mitchell said. “You saw tonight they’re playing in the zone. They’re looking at me and [Evan Mobley], and they forget Sam, and he hits three threes to get them right out of that zone. Like, that changes the game. Even if I point in that direction, you have to actually respect that.”
Mitchell and Merrill have developed a good two-man game. That comes from playing together in pickup games while Merrill was in college, four seasons as teammates with the Cavs, and rewatching the games together.
“We sit next to each other every plane ride, so we watch a lot of film together,” Merrill said. “He likes to rewatch the games right away. I like to wait a little bit, so a lot of times we’ll be on the plane and he’s got the game on and I’ve got my show on or whatever, but I’m really watching the game.”
This is where they talk about how to create open shots for each other.
“It’s just those two-man actions that we get to where I’m setting a screen for him, and it’s either me telling him like, hey, depending on how the guy’s guarding me, or just knowing the personnel,” Merrill said when asked about what they look for. “How guys are gonna guard, how teams are gonna guard. It’s either me telling him, ‘Hey, I think this is what this guy’s going to do, so I’m going to do this, or vice versa.”
Merrill also helps keep Mitchell accountable.
“It started out with me asking him what he sees and being honest with me,” Mitchell said. “It’s easy, when you’re a guy like myself, to kind of be told you’re doing everything amazing. But he’s a guy who I’ve known since before I got to the NBA, and I’m like saying, ‘What, do you think I should have passed this here? Was it a bad shot here?’ Like, he’s always honest, and I love that about him. That’s kind of where our relationship has grown.”
Evan Mobley is in a weird place as a scorer. The Cavs have consistently asked for more from Mobley every season. And every season, he’s delivered. This culminated in him being an All-NBA second team player last year. Based on that steady progression, it was fair to wonder what was next.
Well, the early results have been uneven to say the least. This game was no exception as he registered 14 points on 4-9 shooting with six assists and six turnovers.
The offensive process has been all over the place. He’s gone from being heavily involved as an initiator to reverting to a role that is much more similar to what we’ve seen in previous seasons. And more concerningly, he isn’t doing a great job at that.
Mobley tried to take the small Kyle Kuzma in the post early on, but couldn’t get the advantage, then had to pass out of the post up. Shortly afterward, Mobley sealed the 6’4” A.J. Green in the post, only to have Green poke it away. Last year, both would’ve probably been easy baskets.
Growth isn’t linear. Mobley has been thrust into different offensive roles, whether it’s being the primary initiator with bench lineups that have very little additional playmaking or asked to fit in alongside high-usage scorers like Mitchell and De’Andre Hunter. Those inconsistencies haven’t allowed him to be his best on the court so far.
As it stands, figuring out Mobley’s offensive role remains a work in progress. In a way, he’s emblematic of the rest of the team.
Craig Porter Jr. can get up. His transition dunk on Ryan Rollins was about as good as you’re going to see from someone his size.
Porter has been the biggest pleasant surprise this season. He’s been a good ball mover, a willing outside shooter, and disruptive on defense. These are all things he didn’t excel at last year or in the preseason.
The difference between great and merely good NBA teams under this current CBA can come down to how many cost-controlled rotation players you can get productive minutes from. This is why Ty Jerome and Merrill were so important for them last season. Porter hasn’t come close to the impact of either of them yet this season. And honestly, it’s unfair to hold him to the standard of a Sixth Man of the Year Finalist and one of the best shooters in the league. That doesn’t diminish how useful he’s been.
It’s incredibly encouraging for the Cavs that they’re getting good minutes from guys like Porter, Jaylon Tyson, and Nae’Qwan Tomlin. And they’ve desperately needed them with the injuries they’ve had to deal with.
Hustle players are important. The Cavs started this game stuck in the mud. They got caught on their back foot as Milwaukee opened the game with an 11-2 run. Mitchell’s 14 first-quarter points were the only thing keeping them in the game early on.
Then, Atkinson went with an unconventional lineup featuring Thomas Bryant and Tomlin. Bryant promptly rewarded Atkinson with infectious energy that included boxing Gary Trent Jr. out into the stands. That resulted in a technical, but it ignited the team for the rest of the game.
Atkinson doesn’t have a lot of his expected bench lineups to turn to. That’s the downstream effect of missing three regulars in Darius Garland, Max Strus, and Jaylon Tyson.
What some of these bench lineups lack in cohesion or skill, they are trying to make up for in hustle. That may not carry the day every night, but it’s extremely valuable throughout a long regular season. Atkinson is fortunate that he can count on guys like Bryant and Tomlin to always give it their all when their number is called.
The Cavs are currently overly reliant on Mitchell. He was incredible again as he poured in 37 points on 14-22 shooting with seven assists. Mitchell did that by driving to the basket more than he typically has this regular season, as he went 7-7 in the restricted area.
At the same time, the Cavs came into this year wanting to lighten the load for Mitchell. They know that they need him at his best when the postseason rolls around. But right now, if he weren’t taking the scoring responsibility on his back, this team wouldn’t be close to the 10-5 record they currently have.
It’s fantastic that Mitchell has been this good. He’s showing why he’s a hands-down All-NBA first team talent. At the same time, it’s not encouraging that Mitchell has to do this much against a Milwaukee team that was without Antetokounmpo for the entire second half.
This over-reliance shows just how much the Cavs are still searching for who they ideally are as a team.
