CLEVELAND — Random dribbles from the Cavaliers’ 135-130 thriller of an overtime home win against the Houston Rockets on Monday.
1. It almost feels as if this new version of the Cavs is like an NCAA Tournament team. Just survive and advance, baby.
2. For the second straight game since the news that Darius Garland and Evan Mobley would be out a while, the Cavs found a way. It was considerably more of a nail-biter than the first time (Saturday over the Atlanta Hawks). No matter. The Cavs won and are back to three games above .500 at 15-12.
3. This time, none other than Sam Merrill was among the heroes, scoring a season-high 19 points and burying the game’s biggest 3-pointer late in the overtime. Or with 1:37 left, to be exact, giving the Cavs 133-124 lead. That basically iced it.
4. That three came off a pass from Donovan Mitchell, who’s been a Merrill supporter for some time. Merrill was known as the “Luka Doncic of the Mountain West Conference” during his college days at Utah State. Back then, he was beating up on opponents such as Wyoming and San Jose State.
5. Merrill also played in some pickup games with Mitchell at the time. Mitchell, of course, was playing for the nearby Utah Jazz.
6. Merrill on Monday’s big shot: “For Donovan to throw that in transition shows a lot of trust. I’m glad I knocked that one down for him.”
7. Overall, the Cavs again received contributions from everywhere, even if they just couldn’t put the Rockets away. For starters, Mitchell caught fire with 37 points while playing a whopping 45 minutes. That was by design.
8. Or more accurately, it was by Mitchell’s choice. Why did he decide that? “I just think it’s time for us to start winning,” he said.
9. Mitchell added that his contribution to winning doesn’t always have to be scoring. He can also act as the world’s greatest decoy, and “just my presence off in a corner” can keep a rival defense honest.
10. That’s one long way of saying that the Cavs will have to get creative without Garland and Mobley, and they are dedicated in their efforts to do exactly that.
11. Back to Merrill. Coach J.B. Bickerstaff described his night this way: “Guts. Grit. For him to just be ready speaks to his character and who he is.”
12. Bickerstaff used Merrill a lot (24 minutes) because the fourth-year guard’s perimeter shooting keeps defenses honest and creates spacing. “You have to be aware of where he is” on the court, Bickerstaff said.
13. Max Strus added 17 points, all in the second half. Caris LeVert and Dean Wade scored 12 points apiece, Isaac Okoro had 11 and Jarrett Allen and Georges Niang each had 10. That’s eight men in double figures, and that’s how the Cavs will have to stay afloat without two of their biggest guns. Each of the aforementioned made a difference in his own way.
14. This one went to OT after Rockets big man Alperen Sengun missed a one-legged fadeaway from 20 feet at the regulation buzzer. It was only then that you felt as if the Cavs would pull out the victory. Houston played a game the previous night at Milwaukee.
15. Fred VanVleet did his best John Stockton imitation by scoring 27 points and passing for 17 assists to lead the Rockets (13-11). The guy just did whatever he wanted, regardless of who the Cavs put on him. He’s a big reason that basketball is relevant in Houston again. Same goes for Sengun, who finished with 24 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
16. Mitchell clearly had a shoulder issue late in the game — and the last thing the Cavs can afford is for him to be injured. But not to worry. “I feel great, just ran into the stanchion,” he said. “I’ll be fine for, I don’t know what day it is, but whenever we play Utah. Wednesday.”
Cavs halftime dribbles …
1. Considering the Cavs aren’t knocking them down at the same rate as the other night, it’s good that they’re only down two (59-57).
2. Sam Merrill has the hottest hand with 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting (all threes). But Donovan Mitchell and everyone…
— Sam Amico (@AmicoHoops) December 19, 2023
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YEP !
Everyone stood tall & pulled together to take the W.
But let’s not discount the fact, they did NOT have the big turnover machine, causing 6-8 TO’s & 12-14 fast break points in the opponent’s column. (The starting 5 (FIVE) Players only had 5 TO’s all together last night. Taking care of the ball WAS really very good for them.
Hopefully with more than decent WINS while he is out, he can learn something about sharing & NOT “I gotta do this” over-compensation & over dribbling for no reason.
If it’s viewed for–“gee, these guys are really pretty good without me” ( as in the first 10 games last year when he had the eye injury in Toronto) & “gee, what can I do to help them” without giving away the farm to the other team, then maybe DARIUS CAN BE a real plus to the CAVS, rather than a sporadic one. I DO so hope it comes out this way.