For most of the evening, the Cleveland Cavaliers were down to the Indiana Pacers by six to 12 points. It was one of those games where the team was making some careless turnovers and not playing very good defense, especially in the paint. But by the fourth quarter, playing in front of the friendly home crowd at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, the Wine and Gold were able to mount another tremendous comeback on the back of their new potential MVP of the league in Donovan Mitchell, and ran away from Indiana 118-112.
Mitchell’s shooting, the assists from Darius Garland, the rebounding of big man Evan Mobley and the team’s lockdown defense in the last stanza of the game all helped in the big win. This now gives the Cavs a nice 19-11 record, including a 13-2 record at home. The team plays the next five games at home so with that as a great Christmas gift, they should be able to continue expanding their lead in the Eastern Conference. They currently sit in the No. 3 spot behind the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics.
Here are a few players that were either a stud or a dud in the game.
Cavs stud No. 1: Donovan Mitchell
The Cavs radio broadcast called Mitchell’s performance Friday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse another “majestic” one. Mitchell poured in 41 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter. When his team needed him the most, he was able to provide again like he has so often this season. Mitchell continues to be very consistent with his output most nights on the court.
He’s currently averaging 29.7 points, which is a career-high by more than three points. Part of that has to do with his shooting averages right now. He’s close to 51 % on all shot attempts. He’s at 56% on two-point attempts and 44% on three-point attempts. All these are career bests. His free throw shooting is also stellar, where he’s at 90% on the season.
Mitchell has now scored 30 or more points in 23 of the 26 games he’s played in. When chants of “MVP” start happening all around the arena it’s because they are warranted. He should be considered this season as not only the MVP of the Cavs but in the league as well.
The last player in a Cleveland uniform to show so much consistency on a nightly basis was LeBron James and Mitchell has become the new “King” of the team. The crown is his and it’s been a treat for fans to witness these days.
Cavs stud No. 2: Darius Garland
Darius Garland completed his seventh double-double on the season finishing with 20 points and dishing out 10 assists. The more that Garland can concentrate on his own game and not make it a competition with his teammate Mitchell, the better the Cavs will be moving through the season, the tandem played well together in the win against the Pacers.
Being second fiddle to Mitchell these days might not be what Garland had in mind, but if he can accept not being the guy that has to make the game-winner every night then his team would be better off. Garland has still had some issues with careless turnovers but cutting down on those will have to be a point of emphasis as the season rolls on.
On the radio call of the game, they discussed that topic about not letting one’s ego being affected by the fact that a player like Mitchell is more of the deadly closer in a game that the Cavaliers need. They went on to suggest that the sooner players on the Wine and Gold squad can learn to accept that the better the team will be.
A player like Garland has enjoyed the spotlight over the years but having him learn from the best, like Mitchell can only lead to a better team overall.
Cavs dud No. 1: Jarrett Allen
For the Cavs big man Jarrett Allen, the 38 minutes of playing time and the seven points and five rebounds just doesn’t look very good compared to prior games this season. Since he’s returned to the team after a brief injury this season, it’s his second time he’s scored less than 10 points in a game, and he hasn’t cracked more than 10 rebounds in but two games.
Allen is a big part of the continuity of the team’s offense and despite the low production in terms of numbers, his value cannot be undersold. However, getting some better production by Allen moving forward has to take on a more pressing need. It’s been his biggest weakness as a Cavs player.
He has shown flashes of more dominance in games and that needs to be another area in his improvement. Sometimes, one needs to light a fire under certain players to remind them of how good they can be and at times, Allen has needed that type of motivational push. It could be the difference with this Cavaliers team from them just making the playoffs to actually challenging for a championship in the near future.
Cavs dud No. 2: Lamar Stevens
Lamar Stevens has been thrust into the starter’s job and has done a good job overall but in this game, he went scoreless in 21 minutes of playing time. He’s now started the last eight games because of the injury to Dean Wade. While he definitely has added depth to the starting five because of his tenacious defense he’s been pretty inconsistent in other areas.
In the game against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, he had an explosion in points with 18 by taking 15 shots. He usually doesn’t take so many shots in games, though. In the game against the Pacers, he only took four shots and missed them all. In the game against the San Antonio Spurs, he played 24 minutes and never took a shot, so this type of pattern does not help the team.
He’ll need to be better if he wants to stay in the starting five.