It wasn't consistently pretty, and the Jazz exposed some continued issues for the Cavs defense (in transition and from behind the arc) but a win is a win. The Cavs took care of business before jetting off to Los Angeles behind Evan Mobley who had his first career 30 & 15 game. The Cavs took advantage of the Jazz's lack of size... but also had to as their three-point shot was at season lows. It's a game the Cavs should have won with a bit more clearance, and not come down to the end, but every win and every win coming out healthy as we head to the postseason is what matters most.
By The Numbers
40:11: Total time leading by the Cavs with their biggest lead being 15
36: Point 3Q by the Jazz
5:40: Time in the 4Q when the Jazz took the lead
14-1: Run by the Cavs from that point in time
82: Paint points by the Cavs -- a franchise record in play-by-play era
6: 3PMs by the Cavs -- a season low
2: 3PMs outside of James Harden and Donovan Mitchell
45.8%: Jazz's FG% inside the arc -- 9% below their season average
26: Fast break points by the Jazz
19: Bench points by the Cavs
14:1: AST-TO ratio by Harden
By The Players
James Harden: 29 points created -- his value as creating value for others. Mobley was the primary beneficiary as he received 7 of Harden's 14 total assists. Kenny spoke to Harden's passing post game, and Mobley did too. Harden didn't really have it going on the offensive end scoring wise (4-for-6 FG, 4-6 FT) but it didn't mean he let it impact other parts of his offensive game. Kenny did roll out some wrinkles to get Harden going and in position to score. There was a defensive rating swing of 10 with Harden on vs off the floor with it being worse with Harden on the floor. He had trouble defending POA all game, even allowing a drive-by from Filipowski, and Jazz coach Will Hardy was targeting Harden in the second half to get him into offensive actions. Harden was also part of some defensive miscommunications here and here.
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Donovan Mitchell: If Mobley was Batman tonight, Mitchell was his robin. Mitchell + Mobley accounted for 35 of the Cavs 59 second half points. Mitchell was ultra aggressive all game with 7 of his 10 FGM coming inside the paint + restricted area including a game high 12 FTAs. Mitchell had some of his patented moves and his buzzer beater was a prime example with the mindset he was playing with for much of the night. While Harden was finding Mobley on the roll, Mitchell was too.
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Sam Merrill: Tough shooting night in front of the home crowd (0-8 3P) but he's been able to set a new floor to his offensive game with his increasingly common attacks off closeouts. Understanding how aggressive teams are getting to him, because of the shooter he is, he's been looking to get the ball on the floor as soon as he catches it of late to create driving lane opportunities for him inside the arc. It's also opened up playmaking opportunities too.He was 4-for-6 on 2's and had 3 assists which otherwise helped mitigate the complete lack of perimeter impact he usually has.
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Keon Ellis: 11 of his 13 points came in the second half with 5 of his 6 FGMs coming inside the arc until a game sealing spot-up corner three late in the 4Q. One thing Ellis has continually flashed the ability to do, like Merrill, is attack off closeouts. Ellis wasn't particularly effective from deep either (1-for-3 on 3's) but showed some good touch on shots that weren't in the scouting report on him coming over. He's also developed a nice chemistry, particularly with Mobley, in being able to find openings on cuts to the basket from ball movement and has a good understanding of scoring spots. There's also always going to be the defensive disruption.
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Evan Mobley: Kenny called him "dominant" post All-Star break and games like tonight he wouldn't be wrong. He's never put up the 34-point, 17-rebound stat line before (add in 4 stocks and 3 assists)... mind you in under 30 minutes. He led the Cavs with a +21 and could have put up an even greater stat line if it wasn't for the foul trouble he was in for most of the night. It was a good sign from the opening tip when Mobley was feeling aggressive and decisive with the ball and around the rim, and we even saw him run some of his favorite inverted screen look with Ellis. Mobley had 13 defensive rebounds and those transition opportunities as a ball-handler are perfect opportunities for him to create his own looks. Or also create looks for others. The Jazz lacked size up front and any true semblance of pick-and-roll defense to which Mobley and the team exploited in bundles. It was also good to see him go 4-for-5 at the free throw line *fingers crossed*
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Dennis Schroder: What do you do with Dennis Schroder? It looked like he may have been turning the corner offensively after the last couple of games but not so fast. The Harden + Schroder pairing was a bit hard to stomach as the dRTG ballooned to 145.8 in those sets and Schroder was once again 1-for-4 from the field and missed the broad side of a barn on one of his 3's. The concern with the Harden + Schroder bench units is Schroder isn't a good enough spot-up shooter offensively (just 1 3PM over his last 8 games) and can be a bit spacey defensively (especially in transition) which compounds some of the issues with Harden. It's looking more and more like he's the odd man out come playoff time.
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Tyrese Proctor: He got some burn with the injuries the Cavs were working through and provided a bit of a spark in the first half -- 8 points, a rebound, an assist and some solid defense in a 5 minute stint. The second half stint wasn't as productive but in the midst of the guard play the Cavs were getting, it was better than being a negative like the others were. He spoke postgame and his attention to the details and making life easier for the stars on the team, is the exact type of role he'll need to play moving forward.
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Craig Porter Jr: His first game back after missing the last seven and it went as about you would expect it to. There was some cobwebs to dust off, and he was up there with Schroder with as a -6 in 15 minutes played. He did contribute in some standard CPJ ways of 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and a block in his time on the floor but the Cavs defense fared significantly worse in his lineups (+26.9 dRTG jump) (not all his fault) and he didn't do much offensively to offset some of the defensive issues. This would have been a game where the aggressive CPJ on offense could have been used but perhaps too quick in coming back from injury.
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Nae'Qwan Tomlin: A quiet night for him but probably had some better minutes than Bryant did (which isn't saying much). Tomlin had a strong 2Q shift that saw him get rewarded in the 4Q alongside Bryant + Mobley and it didn't go too well -- he was a -5 for the quarter. The 3 rebounds, a block and finishing around the rim was welcomed in his time on the floor which the Cavs will need more of until Dean Wade gets back.
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Thomas Bryant: This was not a Thomas Bryant game, simply put. The Jazz were looking to push it in transition, off turnovers and even off rebounds as they were looking for early offense often. If there's one style of play that doesn't play to Bryant's strengths, it's games with lots of pace. He was a -12 in his time on the floor (team worst) despite grabbing 7 rebounds. He was out there more than Kenny would have played him due to Mobley's foul trouble as the defense was an issue and couldn't get anything going on offense either.
Game Notes
- It's a win, and they got out healthy. We're good. But the Cavs have a way of muting excitement to an extent by allowing a G-League Utah league back in the game and doing so in a way that has consistently concerned how this team plays in the playoffs.
- Some nights their role players just go blank from deep. Now, the whole team didn't shoot well, but it seems like when there's a lid on the bucket from deep there's a lid on a bucket from deep for everyone. Anyone not named Mitchell or Harden were 2-for-19 from 3. Kenny said it postgame and he's right -- it's going to be hard to win in the postseason shooting like that. The modern NBA is about winning the three-point line, and even with the significant paint advantage they had, the Jazz ate into it by winning the three-point line like they did.
- There's just so much inconsistency from game-to-game throughout the Cavs entire role player network. It's good that Ellis and Merrill are expanding their offensive games by being more willing and effective in attacking off the bounce but they still need that perimeter shot to fall.
-...and something we've harped on these games notes before is the Cavs tendency to get too perimeter shot happy when their three-pointers are falling and try to shoot themselves out of it. So credit to them for recognizing it, seeing the advantage, and leaning into it more.
- On the other side of the ball, two things continue to plague the Cavs: transition defense and defending screening action. The Jazz are an effective transition team but they were 93rd percentile in points per play on the night. Transition is mainly communication and effort, two things fluctuated for the Cavs and the Jazz took full advantage of. There's an inconsistency in how they get back that's frustrating that one can only hope a playoff environment will get more out of them but it's an avoidable mistake that the Cavs need to work on. In the halfcourt, the Jazz offense was 17th percentile in points per play.
- Teams don't have to work too hard in the halfcourt to get open three-point looks and one ball screen or one off ball screen usually will do the trick. Sometimes it's misplaying the screen. Sometime it's trying to jump the passing lane. Sometimes it's not staying tight to the offensive player and having their hands down. And sometimes it's miscommunication on the screening action. Just too much goes wrong for such a simple play, and if you go back and look at the Jazz's 3PMs, you'll see a lot of screening actions (particularly involving the Cavs two starr guards) that led to their barrage.
- One thing that is particularly concerning is the way Harden was attacked in individual matchups all night. It got to a point where in the second half Will Hardy was putting whatever Jazz player Harden was guarding in the P&R action just to force him to play defense, and the Jazz usually won that matchup. Kenny tried a bunch of different things from having him guard the perimeter to trying to hide him on the big (Filipowski) and the action always seemed to find him. It's a concern because in the playoffs teams are going to go back to that play over, and over again, and that's where having both bigs on the floor becomes extra critical to cleaning up the messes the Cavs guards create.
- It's interesting to see the rookie exactly call out the Cavs issues defensively.
- Can the Cavs correct these things before the playoffs? Not likely. It's been there all year and a few more games isn't going to fix it. Is a different environment going to fix them? Hopefully? There's not a lot the Cavs have put on film that makes you think they will and it's something they'll have to learn to live with or hopefully do have a renewed commitment to come playoff time.
- Like they say this a lot postgame, so where's the follow through during the game? We've had one too many of these instances of letting teams back in throughout the season that it becomes blank noise after awhile.
- Health will hopefully fix the bench as Wade, Strus and Tyson all return because Kenny has been scraping the barrel with some of these lineups the last few games.
Box Score & Highlights