Sam Merrill’s monster game draws ‘easy’ Donovan Mitchell to drop the mic

Constantly asked why his team suddenly found a groove, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson repeatedly raised one person. Not coincidentally, the Cavs All-Star Donovan Mitchell looked at the same guy: Sam Merrill.

Put aside the fact that he scored 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from long range in a 141-118 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday night. The little things Merrill does are magnified.

“It’s really as simple as pointing in his direction,” Mitchell told ClutchPoints in his postgame media scrum.

“I don’t want to give him too much credit, do I? I say it all the time, but it seems like it is,” Atkinson said before Cleveland’s second straight win. “He connects. He connects the game. He connects the pieces.”

Meryl’s skill set is vast, it goes beyond the marksmanship that everyone else sees. He is at both ends of the court, in constant motion and consistently energizes the ball. It’s hard to believe that one player can be the difference between stagnation and flow, but Mitchell sensed it immediately. While Merrill is the Cavs’ best scorer, his real impact is loosening the floor for everyone else to eat.

“It’s like, where do you choose?” Mitchell told ClutchPoints. “Are you doubling me? They started the blitz, you hit JA (Jarrett Allen), now what? Do you throw to Sam? Do you throw to me in the corner? You just have to make decisions. It’s like, do you hand off to Sam? Do you hand off to me? Do you hand off to DG? Like, what are you doing?”

“Jailon Tyson is shooting at a phenomenal level, DG (Darius Garland) is shooting at a phenomenal level, Dean Wade is starting to find and get back to his shot, Dre (Hunter). So now it’s opening up for everybody else and guys are getting clearer looks because it’s like, yeah, me, Sam’o. Hell, I ran to Don or Darius, you know what I’m saying?”

Atkinson inserted Merrill into the starting lineup on Tuesday thanks to a request from assistant Mike Garrity. Considering his defensive prowess and allowing the Cavs to put Tyson on the second unit, the decision paid dividends. Even Cleveland’s collective effort on the glass was notable.

“I thought our energy was better, and I thought we bounced back as a team, we’re not just relying on ME. I swear, Sam, I don’t want to make this guy (the only focus), but he does (a lot). He’s so much more than a shooter. I just hope everybody sees that. I don’t know how many boards he had, but he needs rebounds, but he needs guys to come back, and that’s a big part of it.”

Merrill had six rebounds and seven assists on Tuesday and had five helpers in the Cavs’ win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday. This team recorded 76 assists with 104 field goals in 48 hours of basketball. In the scoring column, Cleveland scored 139 and 141 points in the last two games with great efficiency.

“I mean, it’s obviously there,” Craig Porter Jr. said. “Even when he doesn’t get the ball, you have to respect him. It opens up so much space for everybody else to just operate. I mean, it’s obvious. I mean, he’s the player he is because he draws that attention and he can turn the lights out. So it’s just a nightmare for defenses.”

“It gives us a different dynamic on the offensive (end), especially because he gets so much attention with his shooting and his playmaking ability that people don’t really talk about it that much,” Thomas Bryant added. “He gives us a great dynamic. He’s a threat out there and, you know, I really appreciate him. I know our guys here appreciate him just as much.”

If it’s not obvious from his teammates, Merrill is a critical part of the movement in both the half court and the open floor.

“He’s running. He’s just wreaking havoc out there,” Atkinson said before the game. “And it just opens up space, and then we can throw the ball into space. I know you probably look at his stats (Monday), and you’re like, ‘Eh, he’s playing well.’ And I don’t know if we’re going to win that game, honestly, if he doesn’t play. That’s how important he is to us.

“And then defensively, he had a couple of stops, like solidity in the post, toughness, activity. I’m just pinching myself that we committed to him and signed him to a well-deserved contract. Huge for us down the stretch.”

Atkinson said Merrill was a “super high priority” for the Cavs this offseason, and he pushed for the front office to bring him back. Steps still need to be taken, such as a more vocal leader. However, he and the organization are distinguished by cultural and stylistic features, and Meryl is in the “elite bucket” in terms of how she takes care of herself and her body.

“He’s a guy, when I watch him practice, he reminds me of Steph (Curry),” Atkinson said. “They work so hard. They do everything at game speed. He’s one of those rare guys. He’s been out a long time, but you’re like, ‘He can go 40 (minutes).’ He works so hard and his work on the court is amazing, the speed he goes at. So it’s all speed of play and boom, it just translates.”

Having Merrill there is a “game changer,” Mitchell says. “It’s just his knowledge, his feel. That really makes a difference, but I don’t want to put that much pressure on him because we’ve still got to be the team we need to be, even if he’s out or Max or me or DG, whatever it is.”