The Cleveland Cavaliers have had an up-and-down season so far. After three straight wins, they fell to the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday night. And Evan Mobley didn’t look amazing. Up to this point in the season, his three-point shooting has been incredible. He’s been on fire. But against the Hawks, he didn’t bring that deep-range touch.
Mobley finished the game on Thursday night with 11 points, four rebounds, and seven assists while shooting just 4-of-9 from the floor and 0-of-3 from beyond the three-point arc. The Cavaliers were just getting used to Mobley firing on all cylinders from behind the arc, but the shots stopped falling, and the Cavs weren’t able to take home the win. When Mobley makes threes, the Cavs win. When he doesn’t, they lose.
In the first game of the season, Mobley shot 1-of-4 from deep range, and the Cavs lost. But in the next three games, he shot 2-of-3 from deep, 4-of-5 from deep, and then 5-of-6 from deep – All Cavs wins. Coincidence? I think not.
The Cavs win when Evan Mobley make threes
A consistent three-point shot is one of the biggest things that has been missing from Mobley’s game up to this point in his career.
Mobley has always been an all-world defender. He already has a Defensive Player of the Year award to his name, as well as multiple All-Defensive selections. He’s elite on that side of the ball.
However, the offense hasn’t always been what it needs to be. For a No. 3 pick in the NBA Draft, one would hope Mobley could bring more to the table on that end of the court.
Yet the Cavaliers have instead had to rely on their backcourt to generate most of the scoring. Mobley isn’t a great self-creator, and he’s relatively inconsistent as well.
This year, Mobley started with a bang. The three-point jumper has looked as good as it ever has, but Thursday night was a quick reminder of what it looks like when Mobley doesn’t have it going in the scoring column.He was on absolute fire. But the 0-of-3 performance he put up in the Cavs’ loss to the Hawks brought him right back down to earth. The question is, which Mobley is the real Mobley?
History says he probably won’t shoot super well. He’s had a couple of seasons shooting around 37% from deep, but he’s also shot below 30% in a couple of years.
When Mobley shoots well, the Cavaliers win the basketball game. When he doesn’t, they lose. That’s the trend so far.
Add us as a preferred source on Google