10/26/22 Recap: Cavs emerge victorious despite sloppy basketball

Jarrett Allen dunks on Bol Bol
Cavs.com

 
One-word review: Sluggish. Three-word review: Sluggish but victorious.

Cleveland entered tonight as heavy favorites against the winless Magic, and they took a while to get the ball rolling. A long while. Into the 4th quarter. But it was enough despite the struggles throughout the game, and that's what matters. 

The Cavs came out in the first quarter sloppy. The Cavs were in foul trouble early, losing the ball, and struggling to make things happen within the paint.

This theme remained present for the entire first half. It really felt like the Cavs came out playing down to their competition. 

It was a late 8-0 run that took the Cavs into the lead at the end of that brutal half, but Outside of a few individual aspects of a player's game, there was really nothing to write home about. 

Caris LeVert was dropping dimes all over the court, Cedi Osman continued his run of terror, and Donovan Mitchell dropped the greatest tomahawk dunk in a Cavs jersey since LeBron.

The second half maintained a scarily-similar theme. The hard-working Magic were making the game scrappy and hung around the Cavs the entire game. It was in this half though when Cleveland truly put their foot on the gas.

Evan Mobley was on fire in the second half and would go on to finish with a game-high 22 points. Over the days off, many on Twitter were quick to jump on Mobley for his "lack of offensive development." And while he hadn't been scoring the ball at this rate through the first three games, that felt like an overreaction. 

JB Bickerstaff still vowed to get Mobley more involved in the offense, and he did. Mobley was taking advantage of every touch and made some flashy plays throughout the night. His personal play of the game was a step-back midrange jumper over Bol Bol. It was described as "Chris Bosh-like." And it was. 

This is the type of game that Mobley needed, simply to remind everyone just how high his ceiling truly is.

Jarrett Allen had a fantastic night as well, and it all started to click in the back half of the game for him as well. 

Allen would go on to finish with 18 points and an eye-popping 16 rebounds. Seven of them were on the offensive glass. Jarrett took it into his own hands to match the scrappiness of the Magic by getting active in the paint and on the boards, and it paid dividends. 

The Cavs walked away winners despite a poor shooting night from their guards. LeVert would go on to finish with just 10 points, shooting 3/12. Mitchell wasn't much better either. Don finished with 14 on a 5/19 night which included 1/7 from three-point land.

However, both of these guys were making an impact still. They combined for 14 assists, six coming from LeVert and eight from Mitchell. This ability to make an impact despite the shooting struggles is another major reason why the Cavs were able to hang on tonight.

Donovan Mitchell's 7.5 assists per game through the first four games are running away from any tally he's had in his career. And represents well how different the team dynamic is for the Cavs than it was for him in Utah.

LeVert, on the other hand, was able to tally a team-high +20 despite his struggles around the rim. Caris was making plays for other guys all night with the ball in his hands, and the film tomorrow will back this up. Caris was manipulating the defense, especially in the first half. It was very fun to watch.

Cedi Osman scores a layup
Cavs.com

Venturing to the Cavs bench, Cedi Osman was phenomenal again. He has thrived with a healthy Cavs team, similarly to how he did at the beginning of last season. Osman has been playing sound basketball, making all of the right plays when he needs to. Entering tonight's contest Osman held the 2nd spot on the league's +/- leaderboard. Osman finished a +5 tonight, despite a down-shooting night from the perimeter. He finished with 14 points and was the only Cavs bench player to cross the double-digit mark. Cedi is making the decisions on the small forward position very easy for JB Bickerstaff so far.

The Cavs travel to Boston on Friday, who will be playing without Grant Williams. The Cavs are unsure of whether or not Darius Garland will be returning. He was a participant in practice today, but the Cavs aren't willing to put a date to his return.