Cavaliers are ‘getting everyone’s best shot now’

After a busy Sunday with the family, I’m rewatching Saturday night’s come-from-behind win over the Nets.

Mercifully, there was no Browns game this weekend, so Northeast Ohio was able to celebrate the Cavs’ 11-0 start without any distractions.

On the second night of a back-to-back – and the Cavaliers looking a bit sluggish at times – Evan Mobley led the Cavs with 23 points, 16 rebounds, four steals and a late-game block. He really stepped up when the team needed him.

Donovan Mitchell went 4-for-4 from 3-point range in the first quarter and the Cavs jumped out to a 34-28 lead. But the feisty Nets – who lost to the Celtics in OT the night before – kept hitting shots, and seemingly had the Cavaliers on the ropes in the third quarter.

With Mobley and Darius Garland leading the way, the Cavs dug out of a 14-point deficit and outscored the Nets 35-18 in the fourth quarter, eking out a 105-100 win.

A few thoughts:

1. Even with Dean Wade in uniform and presumably feeling better, coach Kenny Atkinson went with Isaac Okoro in the starting lineup, for the fourth straight game. On the telecast Saturday night, John Michael made a point to mention that Atkinson planned to stick with that lineup going forward. I like Okoro, but I like Wade better as a starter.
2. Okoro had a great game Friday night against Golden State, going 4-for-6 from 3-point range. He finished with 16 points, four assists and a team-high +32 rating.
3. The next night against Brooklyn, Okoro had three points and went 0-for-3 from 3-point range. He finished with a team-low -20 rating.
4. Okoro wasn’t the only Cav who was in a funk. Jarrett Allen – the double-double machine – looked gassed in the second night of a back-to-back. The usually dependable Allen finished with four points and five rebounds, and Atkinson limited the Fro to 21 minutes of playing time.
5. The Nets were on the second night of a back-to-back as well, and they gave the Cavaliers all they could handle, one night after giving the NBA champs all they could handle. Caris LeVert credited the Nets’ full-court pressure and physical defense for disrupting the Cavs’ flow.
6. “They did a really good job just kind of mucking the game up, making it a little slower, not letting us move freely,” LeVert said. “We’ll watch the film and see how we can get better from it.”
7. After the Cavaliers’ 105-100 victory, the Cavs’ NBA-leading scoring average dropped from 124.5 points per game to 122.7.
8. LeVert had 12 points, six assists and two blocks for the Cavs off the bench. Commenting on the Nets’ defensive pressure, LeVert said: “You’re starting to see that we’re getting everyone’s best shot now. People are starting to take notice of what we’re doing, and it’s fun.”
9. If this is the year that the Cavs take the next step, winning the second night of a back-to-back is just the latest sign that they’re ready. “It was a great challenge for us,” LeVert told reporters. “Great teams win the second nights of back-to-backs.”
10. The Cavs’ camaraderie was on full display during Garland’s postgame interview, when Donovan Mitchell tried to douse Garland with water (or liquid LSD). Garland, who hit some clutch shots in the fourth quarter, was clearly gassed. “We fought for 48 minutes, literally,” Garland said. “Coming off a back-to-back, that was a big ****ing win. That was a good win.”