Ast night the Cleveland Cavaliers took on the Orlando Magic in an Eastern Conference matchup. The two young teams were fairly matched during the first half but some words of encouragement from Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff lit a fire under the Cavaliers’ starting front court of Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley who went on to lead the Cavaliers to their third straight victory. Evan Mobley had that breakout game everyone was waiting for this season as he scored 22 points with 3 assists and 3 rebounds.
His partner Jarrett Allen also had that breakout game as he scored 18 points with 1 assist and 16 rebounds. Their efforts along with Donovan Mitchell’s leadership allowed the Cavaliers to stay in the win column and move to 3-1 in the young season. The Cavaliers have been doing a great job of holding off while all-star point guard Darius Garland is on the injured reserve list.
Garland took a shot to the face in the Cavaliers’ season opener against the Toronto Raptors and has been out with an eye injury ever since. Darius has been in some practice drills lately with safety goggles on and is rumored to return on Friday against the defending Eastern Conference champs the Boston Celtics.
High Praise for Evan Mobley
The Cavaliers head coach had a lot to say after the game last night about the second-year player Evan Mobley. “Fierce dunks. Smooth step-back jumpers. Feathery floaters. Nimble drop-steps. Skillful dribble-drives. Snazzy passes. Impactful defense. It was all there. He was determined to help us win this game,” Bickerstaff said of Mobley. “We know what he’s capable of. We believe in him a lot. He was attack-minded and he went out to prove a point. I think he did that.” as said by Cleveland.com.
With the Cavaliers’ superstar Donovan Mitchell having a rare off night with only 14 points Mobley and Allens’ great game shows how deep this young Cavs team really is. They have this next-man-up mentality and play for each other night in and night out.
The Cavs first big test
If Anyone is doubting the legitimacy of this team we have a feeling they are about to prove what they can really do when Darius Garland comes back from his injury. With The Cavaliers gearing up to take on Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Friday this will be the first true test for this Cavaliers team and is sure to be a great game.
Image Credits: Flickr.com.