If the Cleveland Cavaliers are going to dig out of another 2-0 playoff series deficit, they’ll need Evan Mobley to be more aggressive.
Mobley had 10 points during the first quarter Thursday night against the New York Knicks. He added four points in the second quarter but was a nonfactor offensively in the second half, not taking a shot in the final two periods of the Cavaliers’ 109-93 loss.
The Cavaliers are hoping for better production out of their fifth-year forward on Saturday night when the Eastern Conference Finals shift to Cleveland for Game 3.
“That’s on all of us. We do have to get the ball in there more, I think we got away from our pick-and-roll a little bit more,” Cavaliers guard James Harden said about Mobley not getting a shot.
Mobley is averaging 16.7 points during the playoffs, which is third on the Cavaliers. He leads the team in rebounds (8.3 per game) and blocked shots with 31.
Even though Mobley has had big games during this postseason run, he hasn’t been a factor during critical moments in Cleveland’s losses.
During the Knicks’ 18-0 third-quarter run on Thursday night, the Cavs missed all seven shots, including four from beyond the arc.
“When I’m out there on the court, I’m just trying to make winning plays. Early on, the best decision was me shooting the open ones, and they kept leaving me open, so I kept shooting it, and they closed that gap and started driving it,” Mobley said after Thursday’s game. “They kept collapsing, so I kicked it to the open man. We just didn’t knock ’em all down. So I feel like we said the process was right. I could have been selfish on a few of them, but I think I made the right decision 95% of the time tonight. So you got to live with that and keep it moving.”
Mobley’s best play Thursday night came late in the first quarter, when he drove the baseline and finished with a reverse left-handed dunk.
He had 15 points, 14 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in Game 1, when the Knicks rallied from a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 115-104 in overtime. He also has at least two blocked shots in nine straight games, the second-longest streak in franchise postseason history.
Mobley isn’t the only Cavs big man who needs to turn it up. Jarrett Allen has a 57.1% accuracy rate from the foul line after making 70.9% during the regular season.
He isn’t the only one struggling with free throws. The Cavaliers are 38 of 55 (69.1%) from the line during the first two games.
Coach Kenny Atkinson said his team has to do a better job of executing pick-and-roll plays.
“Sometimes I feel like we can just go set the pick, stop waiting for a play, stop waiting for somebody to call us up, and just run the offense from ourselves, not necessarily taking the ball and bringing it up the court, but initiating the offense by just going and setting a screen out of the blue,” Allen said of the adjustments he and Mobley could make.
All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell’s health is in question after he appeared to lack burst on drives and lift on jump shots.
Cleveland is trying to become the second team to complete a comeback from a 2-0 deficit in a second postseason series. The Milwaukee Bucks did it in the second round and the NBA Finals in 2021 to win their first title in 50 years.
The Cavaliers are 6-1 at home during the postseason and a league-best 19-4 as the host team since Jan. 23.
“I mean, we’re in the same place as last round. So, the good thing is we’ve been here before,” Mobley said. “It’s nothing that we haven’t fought through and prevailed. We’ve just got to win these next two at home and keep it moving.”
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