The Cleveland Cavaliers fought hard, but it wasn’t enough as they fell to the Toronto Raptors 112-101.
What can you learn from a game where the Cavs were without four of their starters from last season?
I’m not sure there’s much to take away from a big-picture perspective. The Cavaliers will look drastically different with Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, and Sam Merrill in the lineup.Critiques of the offensive process, shot selection, or anything like that seem hollow on a night
everyone is asked to play a role they won’t when this team is fully healthy. It’s fair to examine those things, but what it means is anyone’s guess.
That, however, doesn’t mean there’s nothing to glean from Friday’s loss. This game gave everyone a chance to showcase skills they wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to do so.
“These games are how you discover that,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said postgame. “You discover things through injuries.”
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Jaylon Tyson continues to look more comfortable. Atkinson mentioned before the game that he liked what he was seeing from the second-year wing.
“Like I say with young guys, it’s not perfect, but I will rock with him every day of the week because of how hard he plays,” Atkinson said.
Tyson validated his coach’s assessment shortly thereafter. He was Cleveland’s sparkplug on both ends of the floor. Tyson picked up full court, had three blocks, and cut hard in the half-court on offense. This was combined with an overall efficient scoring night as he finished with 18 points on 7-14 shooting. It was exactly what this short-handed group needed from one of their remaining regulars.
Being a high-energy player isn’t something that can be taught. You either have it or you don’t. Tyson has whatever gene is necessary that causes someone to play with a high motor.
The issue is that Tyson has often been playing with purpose but without a purpose. He’s tried to pick up full court and be disruptive on both sides of the ball throughout the first five games. However, it hasn’t always seemed like he knew how exactly he should be going about doing that. This led to him being blown by defensively and in the way on offense.
That didn’t happen against the Raptors, or at least, not as often.
Friday’s performance wasn’t perfect, but it was a step in the right direction.
De’Andre Hunter is an imperfect scorer. You can quibble about other parts of his game. He isn’t a great passer, can’t really navigate screens, and doesn’t rebound as well as you’d like someone of his size to. Those can be issues at times when you’re sharing the floor with multiple All-Stars. But no one can deny his ability to score the ball. And at the end of the day, you need to score to win games, or in this case, for them to remain competitive.
The Cavs needed Hunter to score, and he did. He hit four threes and attempted eight free throws en route to a 26-point showing to buoy the offense.
Cleveland went through stretches — particularly in the first half — where their offense couldn’t generate anything. They just needed someone who could provide pressure on the defense. Hunter did that. This game isn’t competitive without him.
On the other side of the coin, the Cavs currently lack scorers. Everyone who played moved up a little higher in the pecking order, and it showed.
Tyson, Hunter, and Evan Mobley were the only ones who could consistently provide points. They were the only Cavaliers who scored through nearly the first 21 minutes of the game. That, unsurprisingly, didn’t lead to good results.
Overall, Cavaliers outside of that leading trio of Tyson, Hunter, and Mobley combined to go 4-21 (19%) from beyond the arc and 6-20 (30%) inside of it for 28 points. There isn’t a situation where 28 combined points are going to cut it from a group of eight players receiving significant minutes.
Rebounding three-pointers is a work in progress. This was an issue against the Boston Celtics as the Cavs gave up 19 second-chance points on missed threes in Wednesday’s loss. The Celtics were able to grab 12 offensive rebounds on missed triples.
Figuring out how to combat this has been an emphasis since.
“Rebounding balance is important,” Atkinson said. “You can’t have four guys on the baseline if the average distance of rebounds is coming out longer. You have to almost have rebounding spacing.”
The Cavs had some better rebounding spacing on missed threes. Only two of Toronto’s 17 missed triples ended up with an extra possession. That’s progress, even if Toronto had 18 second-chance points, which isn’t good.
The play below is a good, although imperfect, example of what that spacing looks like. The Cavaliers down low were blocking out their assignment, but Tyson was moving toward the perimeter, and the offensive player there, to make sure he didn’t get it on a long rebound. That’s more of what you want.
This issue isn’t going to be cleaned up overnight, but it’s something the team is working on.
The three ball isn’t falling. The Cavs are now 17th in three-point percentage (34.9%) after going 14-47 (29.8%) from distance on Friday.
Overall, Atkinson didn’t have an issue with his team’s shot quality, saying he thought it was “pretty darn good.”
Atkinson does, however, have an issue with the lack of drives.
“Before tonight, we were 29th in drives, which really hurts me as a coach,” Atkinson said. “That’s part of our identity. We got to get in the paint with the drive. That’s how this league works.”
Doing that is easier said than done. Most of the Cavaliers who played Friday are better play finishers than they are shot makers or playmakers. That’s why there was so much side-to-side action instead of getting to the basket.
Still, there are ways this can be corrected.
“[We have to] create more closeouts with just swinging the ball,” Atkinson said. “Even before the pick-and-roll comes, can you get a drive? Can you get by people? We got to figure out a way to create advantages.
“Yeah, we’re a little handicapped, but I’m not going to use that as an excuse to be 29th in the league in drives. We should be better, and we will be better. Like I said, it’s six games, I’m not overreacting.”
Evan Mobley is putting it together. The biggest positive from this game was how he played in the second half. Mobley scored 19 points over the final two quarters while going 6-7 in the restricted area, even though Toronto’s defense was shifting over to his side of the court every time he touched the ball.
This was in stark contrast with the first half, where Mobley took one shot in the restricted area and four threes. Even though the Cavs want Mobley to confidently take outside shots, those shouldn’t come at the expense of what he does best.
“I had a good talk with him yesterday,” Atkinson said. “Just don’t forget your strengths, what you’re really good at, and what got you to be second team All-NBA. … We got to find that balance.”
Mobley recognizes this as well.
“I feel like I’m finding the groove now,” Mobley said. “Just reading the game, whatever comes best. Taking the best shots. I feel like getting downhill is definitely my strength, but they’ve been playing a little bit different defense, so I got to read that, kick out of it, and take what they give me.”
Teams are playing Mobley differently. They know that the Cavs don’t have other options to score and are making him give up the ball when they can.
This is a good example of that. The Raptors doubled Mobley on the catch, had help coming in from the weakside, and had a helper positioned at the elbow. If Mobley drove, they’d be there to cut him off.
Mobley made the right play by kicking it out to where the double came from, but the better play for a team in need of his scoring would be still finding a way to get to the basket. Fortunately for Cleveland, that’s exactly what he did in the second half.
Mobley did a good job of catching it on the move over the final two quarters. Defenses aren’t able to load up on him as easily in those situations, which allows him to do what he does best.
And then when he does catch it stationary, he has to make quick decisions like he did on this nice drive off-the-dribble for the basket.
It’s not good that the Cavs are as injured as they are. That said, they probably aren’t able to push Mobley out of his comfort zone to this level if this team is fully healthy.
Getting Mobley more comfortable in these types of situations and seeing the level of success he can have against a defense that is keying in on him is much more valuable than any October win. Now, we’ll see how he continues to build on this going forward.
