Friday night’s loss for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the hands of the Sacramento Kings, without De’Aaron Fox (foot soreness) played out because of the Wine and Gold fumbling the game away, and going ice cold down the stretch. Sacramento would win the game 106-95, and close out the contest on a 19-0 run. Transition deep balls were key in the second half for the Kings then, and while the Cavs had been patient for much of the second half, they couldn’t hit shots in the last 4:30-plus of the game.
Fortunately, though things did get tight at around the midway point in the fourth quarter, Cleveland did rebound in a win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday night in the second leg of a back-to-back. Credit the Thunder, a pesky young bunch that wouldn’t fold, and despite the Cavaliers seemingly pulling away in the early fourth, OKC didn’t give in.
But, the Cavs did enough in that one, had 25 assists to 11 turnovers, and Cleveland utilized their bigs at various points, and Lamar Stevens was significant on both ends throughout the game. He had 15 points, to go with seven rebounds, and tallied three big steals and a block, and at least made Shai Gilgeous-Alexander work in most of their on-ball matchups. Stevens was a game-high plus-15 in Cleveland’s grind-it-out 110-102 win, where they avoided a second-straight late collapse.
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Caris LeVert has had an up-and-down season for the Cavaliers, and following some success early on, has been moved to a bench role. It was reportedly a mutual move, and in legitimate stretches with him on the floor with Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell both, it’s difficult for him to establish a rhythm himself on offense it seems. There have been moments from him, though, and while his shooting has been inconsistent, particularly on-ball, his secondary playmaking has been a positive.
There still have been quality scoring games from LeVert, who is capable of that, as he’s shown throughout his career, and he can still be a factor for Cleveland’s bench. In Cleveland’s latest back-to-back, LeVert has had quality nights as well, in spot starts for Donovan Mitchell, who missed those because of lower leg soreness.
LeVert had 22 points, to go six assists and six rebounds, albeit in that loss to the Kings on Friday, thanks in large part due to the Cavs folding down the stretch. Now LeVert needed 21 shots to generate that production, however, the decision-making was better from him, even with shots being inconsistent.
On more of a positive note, LeVert followed that up with another 22 points in Cleveland’s win over the Thunder on Saturday, too, anyhow, which was nice to see. But can he find his way game-to-game? That’s another question.
Cavs fans can all acknowledge that Evan Mobley has been a steady performer for the Wine and Gold through much of this season, and he’s just getting started. Whether it’s been him playing in tandem with Jarrett Allen, or him filling in at the 5 in starts sans Allen, Mobley has been getting the job done.
He was very productive yet again on Saturday, as he had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and connected on eight of his 14 shot attempts, including him going two-of-three from three. His defensive presence, along with Allen, altered a number of shots in that one as well, and it’s been great to see his passing continually come along.Mobley’s now had seven double-doubles in his last 10 games, and has had 1.6 blocks per contest in that span.
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On Saturday night, the Denver Nuggets got the job done against the Utah Jazz in a 115-110 win, and back-to-back NBA MVP Nikola Jokic had another noteworthy contest. Jokic had 31 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in that one, to go with four blocks. In the process, he became only the sixth player to at least 80-plus triple-doubles, per the league.
🃏 31 PTS | 12 REB | 14 AST | 4 BLK
— NBA (@NBA) December 11, 2022
Nikola Jokic became put on a masterful performance in the @nuggets W, becoming just the 6th player in NBA History with at least 80 triple-doubles! #MileHighBasketball pic.twitter.com/AFfc1ayak6
Jokic has long been one of the game’s best players, but what he’s doing shouldn’t be taken for granted. On the season, he’s putting up 23.5 points, 10.0 rebounds and 9.1 assists per game, and that assist average would be the highest in league history for a center, based on a 57.4-game minimum, per 82 games in a season, per StatMuse.
Next up for the Cavs: On Monday night, the Cavaliers take on the San Antonio Spurs on the road.