One stud and one dud for Cavs in loss to the Bucks on Monday

Cavs dud: Evan Mobley

Evan Mobley almost never looks like a rookie, but Monday was one of those rare games. Mobley was able to get to the free throw 6 times, knocking down 5 of them to his credit, but Monday was a struggle for the current Rookie of the Year frontrunner.

Mobley finished with 12 points, albeit on 3-of-10 shooting, and 1-of-4 on deep attempts, to go with 6 rebounds. Meanwhile, it was one of the rare games he didn’t have a block; he did do decently on that end still, though.

Again Mobley looked like he just didn’t have it on Monday night, playing a team-high 37 minutes Sunday, then turning around for a back-to-back and that likely contributed to it, but going up against Giannis certainly doesn’t make it easier.

I felt like Mobley did a really good job defending Giannis, still, in some matchups, and he made the Milwaukee superstar earn and work for everything on the offensive end. The same went for Jarrett Allen; unfortunately, Antetokounmpo was able to hit a few tough threes, which if you’re the Cavaliers, you just have to live with and take.

The good thing about Mobley is even when he’s struggling with his shot in a game like Monday, his all-around game is so darn good and he just impacts the game in so many other areas. I’d fully expect Mobley to bounce back in a big way against the Chicago Bulls back in Cleveland on Wednesday night.