The weekend started on a bad note for the Riders. In quick succession, they learned on Friday of the absence for several weeks of Darius Garland and Evan Mobley, two of their four major players.
The next day, these same Cavs, however, delivered a successful performance collectively, in order to take the measure of the Hawks, in front of their audience.
“ I knew our team could do it because we have the mentality where the next players in the rotation take over » rejoiced Jarrett Allenauthor of his best outing of the season against Atlanta (25 points and 14 rebounds).
Donovan Mitchell, new custodian of the game
Besides Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell also stood out this Saturday, establishing his record for assists (13, to go with his 22 points), and the duo that “Spida” forms with “The Fro” will be important for Clevelandin the coming weeks.
“ Some evenings, [mon rôle] will consist of scoring more. Some evenings, it will consist of being more present on the rebound. Some evenings, it will consist of delivering more assists » detailed the four-time All-Star. “ It will take a lot from me but luckily I have teammates who make it easier for me so I don't feel that way. »
“ It was different with Donovan in charge » judged Jarrett Allen, put into orbit several times by his leader/back. “ He definitely made the game easier for us and I think he was proud of it. »
“ Donovan got his teammates involved from the start and we're going to need that » appreciated for his part JB Bickerstaff, the team coach. “ He'll also have to choose his shooting positions, but he's an elite scorer for good reason. »
A test for the Cavs collective
Clearly, the pre-match message from the Cavaliers coach seems to have gotten through to his group, which started very strongly against the Hawks, before managing its lead well until the end of the match.
“ JB said before the game that we shouldn't go out on the field and try to be Superman, make up for everything that's lost » added Jarrett Allen. “ For us it's just about trying to find an area where we can improve to help the team win. »
“ It's just about staying together » confirmed JB Bickerstaff. “ In these cases, you have to regroup. It's a fun opportunity, where your back is almost against the wall and you go out there and give it your all. We do it together and we give ourselves a chance to succeed, but we have to take advantage of this competitive spirit, go out there and do the job. […] We are the Cavaliers, we play 'Cavaliers basketball', we are positive and optimistic, we are going to fight as hard as we can but no matter what happens we are going to do things together. »
And, rather than worrying about questions related to his future, Donovan Mitchell prefers to focus on the present, going in the direction of his coach by reminding that the most important thing is to make his team win. Despite the current obstacles…
“ We have to do it as a team. We lost two of our guys. This series that we are going to launch is for them. We're going to do this as a team »concluded the Cleveland leader.
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Donovan Mitchell | 20 | 35.9 | 45.5 | 34.5 | 87.9 | 1.1 | 4.8 | 5.9 | 5.1 | 2.8 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 27.6 |
| Darius Garland | 20 | 34.0 | 47.0 | 34.6 | 83.5 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 5.9 | 3.8 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 20.7 |
| Evan Mobley | 21 | 33.6 | 57.3 | 20.0 | 76.9 | 2.7 | 7.8 | 10.5 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 16.0 |
| Caris Levert | 18 | 30.2 | 42.1 | 32.0 | 75.0 | 0.4 | 3.1 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.8 | 15.3 |
| Max Strus | 25 | 34.6 | 41.7 | 36.5 | 79.4 | 0.8 | 4.7 | 5.5 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 13.7 |
| Jarrett Allen | 20 | 28.8 | 66.7 | 0.0 | 69.4 | 2.9 | 5.3 | 8.2 | 2.4 | 1.8 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 2.9 | 12.4 |
| Georges Niang | 25 | 22.5 | 40.3 | 34.9 | 93.3 | 0.4 | 3.4 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 2.3 | 7.9 |
| Craig Porter, Jr. | 14 | 14.3 | 54.8 | 42.9 | 69.2 | 0.2 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.1 | 7.2 |
| Isaac Okoro | 16 | 23.6 | 46.3 | 34.4 | 65.2 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 6.4 |
| Dean Wade | 18 | 20.4 | 35.8 | 32.8 | 70.0 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 4.2 |
| Sam Merrill | 12 | 8.5 | 36.1 | 41.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 3.3 |
| Tristan Thompson | 20 | 9.9 | 70.6 | 0.0 | 41.2 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 3.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 2.8 |
| Ty Jerome | 2 | 7.4 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 |
| Emoni Bates | 7 | 7.5 | 26.7 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.7 |
| Isaiah Mobley | 2 | 5.0 | 33.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Damian Jones | 11 | 4.9 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.8 |
