Cavs: 1 stud and 1 dud from their first win of 2021-22 over Hawks

Cavs stud(s): Ricky Rubio-Evan Mobley 2-man game

It’s hard to choose between one or the other for the game’s MVP seeing how the two had the biggest impacts on the win.

For Ricky Rubio, in Friday’s loss against Charlotte, he took the blame for it, as illustrated by Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, and Rubio bounced back big time against the Hawks. Rubio would fill the stat sheet putting up a Cavs-high 23 points to go along with 8 assists and 6 rebounds. In the absence of Darius Garland, Rubio’s ability to keep the team steady has been present. His leadership has been much-needed on a team still looking to form a strong identity.

Advanced stats showed just how much Rubio meant to the Cavs win as he was also a team-high plus-23. When the team called on Ricky, he answered scoring 6 of the team’s last 8 points during the final 3:14 of the game. Having Rubio be a backup has been a luxury for the team and it’s great to see him get the recognition he deserves.

Mobley was the defensive catalyst for the team in their win against Atlanta as he had 4 blocked shots to go along with 17 points and 11 rebounds.

His length gives him a “free-safety” ability to roam all around the court, running shooters off the three-point line with his closeout ability, altering shots with his length, and limiting his fouls while doing so.

Through three games, Evan Mobley is averaging 15.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals for the Wine and Gold, shooting 56.3 percent from the field. The production has been all we could ask for and then some for the rookie.