Cavs: 3 things I liked from preseason Game 4 against the Bulls

The Cleveland Cavaliers were absolutely clobbered on Tuesday night when they opened the preseason against the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls came into town for a rematch Sunday evening, and this time the teams played dead even, with the Bulls pulling out a one-point victory in the end. It was the third consecutive close game for the Cavs as they have looked much better in recent games after that shaky start.

Preseason basketball ultimately isn’t about wins and losses, but rather about players and rotations. What stood out from the game about the Cavs’ roster? Here are three things I liked from the 102-101 loss to the Bulls in preseason Game 4 on Sunday.

Cavs: 3 things I liked – Evan Mobley going Beast Mode

The headline has to be Evan Mobley having his best game, a truly incredible performance for the rookie. Mobley scored 15 points, pulled in 10 rebounds and connected on four assists. You want defensive impact plays? What about two steals and three blocks? Did he take care of the ball? Only one turnover despite handling the ball in transition multiple times. Check out this end-to-end run with a behind-the-back flourish that he finishes with a pass to Jarrett Allen:

In one memorable sequence, Mobley makes a nice move inside to finish at the rim. The Bulls inbound quickly and Mobley picks up DeRozan in the open court, who receives the ball and drives in. 12-year former All-NBA guard against a 7-foot rookie in space. Mobley moves his feet, stays in front of him, and swats the ball away. A few plays later DeRozan comes right back at him, and Mobley again says no:

Evan Mobley got knocked off his spot a few times, and occasionally he would pass out of the paint to the perimeter and then float towards half-court; he needs to sharpen up where to go in such situations. Those are ultimately just rookie nitpicking at this point. Mobley was incredible, and for a Cavs team that hasn’t seen a lot of incredible recently, it was everything fans hoped for and more. There are a lot of reasons to think Mobley will be really good as quickly as this season.

Cavs: 3 things I liked – Triple Towers look

The three best players for the Cavs on Sunday evening were all big men, and they all started the game together. Mobley had a do-it-all game starting at the 4, but the 7-foot Lauri Markkanen started at the 3 and uncorked 18 points, four points, three assists, two steals and three blocks of his own. Jarrett Allen chipped in 12 points, eight rebounds and three steals of his own on 76 percent shooting.

This “Triple Towers” look of Allen and two 7-footers was made possible by the absence of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton as they rested on the night. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff moved Isaac Okoro up to the 2 and inserted Markkanen in at small forward. It worked, with Markkanen a game-high plus-13 on the night.

The combination of length from the three players gummed up passing lanes all night, and one time Markkanen, while defending Zach LaVine on the perimeter, extended his go-go-gadget extender arm and plucked LaVine’s pass directly from the air. Markkanen and Mobley frequently found themselves out on the perimeter defending in space, and both help up very well.

This lineup combination needed to be tried out, both because the Cavs have invested so much in these three players and because Markkanen was very successful when played as a small forward last season. Few likely expected it to go so well right from the jump, but all preseason caveats aside, it looked really good.

The Cavs are also just two steps away from Jarrett Allen’s 82-0 lineup. Make it happen in the final preseason game coach!

Cavs: 3 things I liked – 48 solid minutes at point guard

Darius Garland was inactive for the Cavaliers last night, and last season that would have meant disaster at the point guard position. Cedi Osman was sometimes used as a backup ball-handler, and Matthew Dellavedova helped when he was healthy. A handful of players on 10-day contracts rolled through town to play legitimate rotation minutes.

This season the Cavs don’t have to look to the scrap heap or veterans of Christmases Past to fill the void; they have legitimately good point guards on the roster behind Garland. Ricky Rubio started against the Bulls and was solid, scoring just nine points but dishing out nine assists in one half of action. The offense hummed with him at the controls.

Cleveland doesn’t have just one backup point guard, they now have two. Kevin Pangos was one of the best guards in Europe last season, and he comes in to give the Cavs another steady hand if either Garland or Rubio is out or gets into foul trouble. He played over 25 minutes against the Bulls and had six points and six assists of his own.

While Mobley might be something of an exception, generally teams with multiple bigs will be best served by a place-setter who can get them the ball in positions to succeed. The Cavs will be able to mix-and-match rotations at will knowing that between Garland, Rubio and Pangos there will always be a competent point guard on the court to help maximize the offense. That will help the development of Mobley and maximize two-big lineups, not to mention the new Triple Towers look.

The Cavs are 1-3 in the preseason, but their record is not important. The most important question is whether Evan Mobley looks deserving of the No. 3 overall pick, and so far that answer is a resounding yes.