Cavs: 4 stars from 4-game winning streak

Cavs’ First Star: Evan Mobley

Four-game totals: 70 points, 35 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals, 4 blocks, 58.9 true shooting

The great Walt “Clyde” Frazier teams with Mike Breen for New York Knicks broadcasts, perhaps the best pairing of any team’s local broadcast (no disrespect meant to John and Austin, who do an excellent job). On the call for the Cavs’ most recent win, their 17-point win over the New York Knicks Sunday night, Frazier was loving the play of Evan Mobley. He dubbed him “the neophyte” and constantly praised Mobley’s awareness of the game around him and elite poise for a rookie.

Mobley was absolutely impressive in the statement win over the Knicks. He scored a career-high 26 points on 11-of-15 shooting, hit two 3-pointers, pulled down nine rebounds and had five assists. He was a game-high +26 in the 17-point win, and when he was on the court the Cavs had a 168 offensive rating, which seems like a typo.

Basketball Reference has a statistic called “Game Score” that seeks to evaluate a player’s impact across-the-board in a single game. Mobley had a Game Score of 27.6 in the Knicks win, easily the highest of any rookie in the league this season.

What is so wild is that Mobley makes an impact in every game, which is so hard for rookies used to playing twice a week to manage. Their impact is usually up-and-down, a dud in between two solid games even for the best. Yet Mobley’s defense allows him to make a difference each night. He has been the best player for the Cavs over the past four games.