CLEVELAND, Ohio — Scribbles in my Cavs notebook after their stunning 123-116 victory over Boston Friday night:
1. So much happened in this game, from the Cavs being behind 25-3 early in the first quarter, to Evan Mobley scoring 11 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the fourth quarter. As for Donovan Mitchell, he was great all night.
2. Coach Kenny Atkinson on Mitchell at his postgame press conference: “For some reason, Donovan, and I’m the most culpable, I don’t give him enough credit. It’s crazy. He was phenomenal. And then how aggressive he was to the rim. Right? It wasn’t just, pull-up 3’s … and spin around, turn around. He was getting to the rim, putting pressure on the rim, making the right play.”
3. That was Atkinson’s way of praising his star who put up 41 points in Boston. His star was 13 of 26 shooting and had five assists and three rebounds. He played the entire fourth quarter, but still was on the court for only 35 minutes.
4. In 20 career games vs. Boston, Mitchell has averaged 30.8 points, This season, it’s 35.5 vs. the Celtics. Mitchell has passed Michael Jordan for the highest career scoring average vs. Boston. Yes, that’s part of why I say he’s the Cavs’ second-best all-time player (behind LeBron James). For what it’s worth, I’m old enough to have seen them all play for the Cavs.
5. Atkinson said the Cavs “played the target game” with Mitchell. They set screens to create switches, often where Mitchell was defended by Boston’s Sam Hauser. Boston did the same for Jayson Tatum, creating a mismatch where Darius Garland was forced to defend one of the NBA’s best players.
Donovan Mitchell is averaging 30.8 points for his career vs. Boston.
AP
6. Disclaimer No. 1: If Boston had its full roster, defensive specialist Jrue Holiday (finger injury) would have been starting instead of Hauser. That said, Mitchell was having one of the nights that remind us of how he’s the second best player in the history of this franchise behind LeBron.
7. More Atkinson on Mitchell: “He’s never too high or too low. He keeps us even … even during that (early game) avalanche, (Mitchell helped) our guys not to get exasperated.”
8. Yes, Atkinson did say “exasperated.” Not sure I ever heard that from a coach. Then again, former Cavs coach Lenny Wilkens would say “discombobulated” when the Cavs had a first quarter like what happened in Boston. You say exasperated and I say discombobulated … either way, I thought the Cavs were finished by the middle of the first quarter.
9. Disclaimer No. 2: Along with missing Holiday (one of my favorite players due to his defense and clutch-shot making), the Celtics also were without big man Kristaps Porzingis. The Cavs were healthy.
10. That said, when you’re in Boston and you’re down 25-3 and the fans are screaming and your starters look like they were thinking about having clam chowder after the game … you get blown out. When you give up 74 points in the first half in Boston … you get crushed. When you’re down 87-70 early in the third quarter, you certainly lose. Only it didn’t happen.
11. Key point from Atkinson: “We played a lot of guys. We eventually wore them down … Our bench dug us out of a hole.”
Evan Mobley had 11 points and eight rebounds in the fourth quarter vs. Boston. AP
12. None of this is to take credit away from Mobley, Mitchell, etc. But the Cavs’ bench outscored Boston’s 33-6. Two Boston bench players were starting, but this is still significant. Look at the plus/minus stats for the Cavs’ key bench guys: Ty Jerome (+34), Sam Merrill (+22), De’Andre Hunter (+21), Dean Wade (+12). Among the starters, the only player with a plus was Mobley (+2). Mitchell was 0. Everyone else was outscored.
13. The Cavs were outrebounded 17-7 in the first quarter. After that, they owned the boards 37-23. They ended up with a 44-40 edge for the game. They have won nine in a row and won the rebounding war in every game during the winning streak.
14. Boston coach Joe Mazzulla admitted the Cavs hurt his team with their offensive rebounding. That was apparent in the fourth quarter when a relentless Mobley grabbed one rebound after another. The Cavs hammered Boston 46-34 with points in the paint. Mobley had only six points and four rebounds in the first three quarters. It looked like he would remain in a strange sort of basketball fog.
15. Atkinson on Mobley in the fourth quarter (11 points, 8 rebounds): ”I thought he was deep in a hole. He was not feeling it. That’s a sign of a great player. You’re struggling … you’re struggling. And all of a sudden, he changed the game.”
16. Mobley’s 12 rebounds led the Cavs. But next were Hunter (5), Max Strus (4), Jerome (4) and Jarrett Allen (4). The Cavs had excellent team rebounding once they woke up.
17. Finally, back to the bench. The Cavs are No. 6 in NBA bench scoring (Boston is No. 26). They also are No. 3 in minutes played by guys off the bench. This has made a huge impact this season.
18. There is a temptation for a coach to play only seven or eight players in a big game. Atkinson has resisted it, using at least 10 guys every night. In this game, Boston scored only 42 points in the second half — 18 in the final period. Atkinson’s deep depth (an old phrase from Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver) was a game changer.
Hear me talk
March 26: I will be as Walls of Books at The Shoppes at Parma to give a talk and meet fans. It starts at 6 p.m. and it’s free.