Evan Mobley’s defense gives Cavs a lift in W over Magic in return

The Cleveland Cavaliers have not had their three near-7-footers in Lauri Markkanen, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen together in a while prior to Saturday’s game against the Orlando Magic. Those three were starting to play off each other better in the early going, but then Markkanen had a near-three-week absence because of COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

Kevin Love had been out for nearly that too, due to the virus/protocols in working his way back; he returned last Wednesday at the Brooklyn Nets. Love’s been getting his rhythm down in recent games in bench minutes, though.

Nonetheless, it was rough for the Cavaliers that they missed impressive rookie big Evan Mobley for the past four games prior to that Orlando matchup, in relation to a right elbow sprain. Mobley did return a bit earlier than expected, on the plus side, and that was big, as thus far this season, he’s been probably even better than one would’ve thought this early on.

On the year, he’s had 14.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.8 blocks per game, and on both ends, the 20-year-old has looked to be mature beyond his years. And on the defensive end, in particular, he’s been outstanding to me, and him and Jarrett Allen have been a heck of a duo there.

In that realm, while Orlando is very banged up, and they were without Cole Anthony, and they still haven’t had Markelle Fultz and Jonathan Isaac yet this season, I thought Mobley’s defense really gave the Cavs a lift on Saturday. That was nice to see, with how he’d been out for that span of games.

Cavs: Mobley’s defensive impact was again on display against the Magic on Saturday.

Mobley’s defense was a welcomed sight for Cleveland, and even with Orlando being definitely far from great offensively, his expertise on that end has been missed in recent games before it.

Some of it had to do with the opponents the Cavaliers had been playing before that Magic game, but Mobley was again, very active on the money end of the floor on Saturday.

His IQ/awareness and timing were on display as a rotator, as he engulfed multiple shots, and contested plenty of others, making things difficult on a number of occasions for shooters to finish over top.

Granted, I know the dude is on the thinner side currently, and the youngster needs to continue to get stronger in coming seasons over time; he will, though. But even with him at times conceding interior looks against more physical bigs, far more often than not, he affects games in a positive way defensively, which is no small thing for such a young guy, let alone a rookie.

In this Orlando game, he made some plays offensively, with 13 points and hit two threes, and he had three assists. The defense, regarding rim protection and ease in containing perimeter threats, was the key takeaway from his return, to reiterate, in any case.

Mobley had four big blocks, was active with his contests as a rotator, and he and Jarrett Allen were the key reason why Cleveland had a season-high nine blocks on the evening.

The opponent is one that’s obviously struggling at 4-16, and these next three games for the Cavaliers are going to make for a tough road trip here. But when not having him in recent contests leading into this, including four of the last five losses, Mobley’s defensive impact jumped out.

The Cavs got a season-high 26 points out of Darius Garland, who had 11 assists, and Markkanen had 20 points, hitting four threes, and Allen had 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks, for reference.

Taking all of that into account, Evan’s defense was dearly missed, and getting him back in the fold again prior to this upcoming stretch of games is big for this Cavs team as they try to get back on track, starting at the Dallas Mavericks on Monday. Each of Cleveland’s next six opponents following that Orlando game from here have winning records, also, as KJG’s Josh Cornelissen pointed out leading into that one, so getting Mobley was crucial, and he looked just fine.