It sure is nice to have Donovan Mitchell back in the lineup, huh? The three-time All-Star, who missed two games over the weekend with lower leg soreness, led the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 105-90 win over Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night.
He was back in Cleveland’s loss on Monday night at the San Antonio Spurs, but in this last game, the man from Louisville had 34 points on 13-of-20 shooting from the field, and was especially sharp from the jump. The Cavaliers jumped out to a seven-point lead after quarter one, and kept the pressure on to go up 19 by the halftime break.
As usual, Luka Doncic was the guy who tried to keep the Mavericks in the game all night. He also scored 30 points, but on 9-of-23 shooting, including a poor 25% (2-of-8) from deep. Outside of Doncic, the Mavericks got only 34 combined points from the rest of their starting lineup, not to mention, not a single player in that group, Doncic included, had a (+/-) higher than -15.
As for the Cavs, Mitchell proved his worth yet again, but also had some help from an unlikely source. Lamar Stevens, starting at the wing, had 18 points, and put in a solid defensive effort. On top of that, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley each had 14 points.
Before the Cavaliers start their biggest homestand of the year beginning on Friday night, let’s take a look at who stood out for the Cavaliers last night.
Cavs stud No. 1: Donovan Mitchell
At the end of the year, I doubt that Mitchell will factor into the MVP race much at all. With superstars like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Nikola Jokic putting up insane numbers, it’s not really a surprise. However, as I mentioned in my stud and dud article last weekend, Mitchell has been incredibly valuable to this Cavalier team, and last night proved it.
Not only was Mitchell great, with 30 points, including shooting 6-of-9 from three-point range, but the offense looked much smoother with him out there. Darius Garland looked much more comfortable, and wasn’t forced to do as much off the dribble, which led to him having zero turnovers. In addition to that, Allen and Mobley were both incredibly efficient, combining to shoot 11-of-16 from the field, and nailed all six of their combined free throws.
Without Mitchell in the lineup the Cavs are 2-2 this season, but that doesn’t quite tell the whole story. He really is the piece that gets the entire offense flowing. He takes pressure off of Garland, and provides easy looks for the bigs, and guys like Lamar Stevens.
As I’ve said, Mitchell won’t get a lot of love in the MVP race, but he should get more.
Cavs stud No. 2: Lamar Stevens
What a nice surprise from Lamar Stevens last night. He got his 13th start of the season as the Cavaliers look to figure out their wing position, and he definitely impressed a lot of people. The swingman had 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting from the field. On top of that he grabbed 11 rebounds to complete his double-double.
On the defensive end, he was a star in the first half. He was a large reason the Cavs took a 19-point lead into the break. Stevens was the man tasked with stopping, or trying to slow down Luka Doncic, and he did. In the first half he held him to 4-of-13 shooting from the field, which was huge in giving the Cavs a big lead at the break.
While the Cavaliers keep trying to figure out the small forward position, Stevens has made a great case for himself. In those 13 games starting he has averaged 8.6 points and just over five rebounds. Those are better numbers than Dean Wade and Isaac Okoro, and the spark he provides also gives his stock an extra boost.
We’ll see regarding the trade deadline, or even going forward this season, but if anything, Stevens has certainly made a strong case to be the starting candidate going forward.
Cavs dud (sort of): Bench unit
After watching last night’s performance, there aren’t a ton of things to complain about. They out-rebounded the Mavericks, had less turnovers, and shot better than them from the field. Overall, it was a great win all around. However, one area for concern going forward has to be the bench.
Caris LeVert was awesome with 11 points in the second unit, but other than him, the only scorer was Isaac Okoro, who had only two points. The front office has a lot of time to add some playmakers to the second unit, and Ricky Rubio is reportedly getting closer to a return, but simply put, 13 combined points off the bench won’t cut it come May.
With that being said, it should be a great week-and-a-half before Christmas for the Cavaliers, or at least I’m hoping it will be. Between now and Dec. 26, Cleveland will take on the Indiana Pacers (Friday), Dallas (Saturday), Utah Jazz (Monday, Dec. 19), Milwaukee Bucks (Wednesday, Dec. 21), Toronto Raptors (Friday, Dec. 23), and Brooklyn Nets (Monday, Dec. 26) at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. It’s their longest homestand of the year.
After getting the win and improving to 18-11 on the season, the Cavaliers still sit in third-place in the Eastern Conference, four games behind the first seed Celtics, and one game ahead of Brooklyn in fourth place.
With Giannis, Durant, and Luka coming to town in the next few days, it’s going to be important for the Cavs to be healthy and win the majority of the next six games to stay atop the hunt in the Eastern Conference.