On Friday night, for much of their game versus the Indiana Pacers, the Cleveland Cavaliers just looked to be a step slow. The youthful Pacers were making sound extra passes for much of the contest, and while they were cold from three-point range to a large degree, Indiana was getting to the cup a ton through the first three quarters. In the game, Tyrese Haliburton, Bennedict Mathurin and the Pacers outscored the Cavaliers in paint points by a margin of 62-44.
The Pacers went into halftime with a 61-54 halftime lead, and after a sharp third quarter, held an 11-point advantage going into the fourth quarter. At one point, they led by 13 in the fourth, too.
Then, the Wine and Gold turned it on from when it mattered most, and flipped an otherwise underwhelming game around on its head. In the fourth, in which Cleveland outdueled Indiana 35-18, Donovan Mitchell spurred on the comeback effort with 18 points in that period; he finished with 41 big points on 14-of-24 shooting, including him going eight-of-15 from three.
Additionally, in the fourth, Jarrett Allen’s interior presence, and some key plays from Darius Garland, Cedi Osman and Caris LeVert all made a difference. The Wine and Gold would wind up winning behind their clutch fourth quarter play by a score of 118-112, and in the game overall, they shot 14-of-31 from three, a 45.2 percent clip.
More Cavs news
On the injury front, there was an encouraging update on Dean Wade, who has been out with an AC joint sprain in his shoulder. It was originally estimated that the injury would sideline him for three-to-four weeks, and while that’d seem to be what ensues, it was nice to see this report from Evan Dammarell of Right Down Euclid and Fear The Sword from Friday involving Wade.
Dean Wade, who is out tonight for the #Cavs, is on the court getting in some light work as shootaround concludes.
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) December 16, 2022
Along with that, Dammarell reported how Dylan Windler (ankle injury) and Ricky Rubio (ACL injury recovery) got some one-on-one work in seemingly as shootaround concluded on Friday prior to the Pacers game. Here was a bit of that.
A little extra snippet of Dylan Windler and Ricky Rubio getting in some one-on-one work as #Cavs shootaround wraps. pic.twitter.com/GPbttOXZo9
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) December 16, 2022
It’s not seemingly set as to when either Rubio or Windler can be back, and Windler has had a litony of injuries during his time with Cleveland, but these reports from Dammarell were nice to see for Cavs fans yesterday.
As it pertains to other Cavs news of late, Evan Mobley received some big-time praise from former Boston Celtic Brian Scalabrine on a recent episode of Kevin Garnett’s YouTube show affiliated with Showtime Basketball, “KG Certified.”
https://twitter.com/shobasketball/status/1603469593359441921?s=20&t=qtU6Cq8eoKJvHs5qRV4ykg
Scalabrine touched on how he sees “shades” of the legend, in Garnett, in Mobley’s game, seemingly on both ends. That KG comp has been out there for a while on Evan, who looks to have the makings of a longtime star in the NBA, and is just getting started.
Scalabrine saying that Mobley “scares” him is telling, as to how the Cavaliers youngster has a sky-high ceiling in this league, if his game continues to round out and he gets more put-together physically in years ahead.
NBA news
It was sobering to see the news on Friday that Tyrell Terry, a former Dallas Mavericks No. 31 overall selection in the 2020 NBA Draft, announced his retirement from basketball due to mental health struggles via Instagram. Terry’s issues with anxiety and the game of basketball were crippling ones for his well-being, and he stated in his Instagram post, among other things, how as opposed to building him up, the game “began to destroy me.”
Terry, who played in 13 NBA games, and took a leave of absence in his rookie season for personal reasons, along with during training camp going into his second year, was on a two-way deal for much of last season with the Memphis Grizzlies. He was a standout for one collegiate season at Stanford, being entering the draft and eventually being taken by the Mavs.
Us NBA fans wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors, and may he get the support he needs. Hang in there, Tyrell.
Next up: The Wine and Gold will face the Mavericks for the second time in four days on Saturday night, when they’ll be trying to take both matchups against the Mavs this season after taking the first one 105-90.