How revenge against the Kings overshadowed James Harden’s debut

James Harden was the talk of the town before he made his own Cleveland Cavaliers debut against the Sacramento Kings. In addition to Donovan Mitchell, The 36-year-old was as advertisedwho detonated in the fourth quarter to help his new team to a 132-126 victory on Saturday. But, as great as it was, despite the desire for a fresh start, Keon Ellis and Dennis Schroder they were the ones circling that revenge game on the calendar a week ago after the Kings traded them to the Cavs.

By the end of the night, they got what they wanted. That’s especially true for Ellis, who closed out the night at 4 for Cleveland alongside Harden, Mitchell, Sam Merrill and Jarrett Allen in his old stomping grounds at the Golden 1 Center.

“I thought he made some big plays defensively for us,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said, singling out the team’s new swingman after the game. “That’s why he finished the game. We needed him there.”

Ellis finished with 6 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and a block as a plus-20 in 17 minutes of play, showing a little bit of everything. A deflection machine, he gave his assignments no breathing space, keeping them off the ball and making anyone who dared pass it in that direction pay. Ellis got Russell Westbrook twice, once on a pocket pass with a tight gap and the other time stationed between the paint and the corner.

Soon after, he made a smooth pass to Westbrook from Nick Clifford after a screen, ducked far enough for Sacramento rookie center Maxime Reynaud to try to get him to the ball handler, then came out with it in the open floor. All three of Ellis’ steals came in the fourth quarter, with the final two steals coming within 30 seconds of each other.

On Ellis’ final move, he dribbled down the right side of the floor as Rayno and Clifford defended. He waited long enough for Harden to take his place above the break, and Brada took care of the rest. That run gave the Cavs a 108-107 lead, showing just how timely it was. Ellis was responsible for two of Harden’s catch-and-shoot chances, and both were true.

As a spot-up shooter, Ellis drilled his first two looks. Mitchell found him on the left wing and Schroder swung at him on the right after Mitchell’s drive and shot. And the next two attempts were solid, despite the results of misses in front.

“Obviously, a gravity threat, but he showed some real pop, some real athleticism,” Atkinson. “I can’t wait… that’s a good sign. I don’t know the player intimately, so it’s great to see him turn up tonight.”

Schroder, who came with him to the Cavs, also impressed in his first two games. On Saturday, he was part of a second-unit lineup with Ellis, Thomas Bryant, Craig Porter Jr. and Nae’Quan Tomlin largely outplaying the starters.

“Everything,” Atkinson said. “They had their energy. The first group, the energy was all right, and those guys came in. Dennis, obviously part of it. That was like a game changer when we started the game not full of energy.”

“Shout out to JA for continuing to press him the entire time and the bench continues to do that,” Mitchell added. “But overall, we’ll figure things out. We’ve seen a lot of late games that we can kind of play with from there, but any win is a good win right now; we need everybody. But we just know inside, like, ‘Okay, we really don’t have time to work on anything.’ We were just playing. It’s not bad, and we’ll get better.”

Schroder finished the night with 7 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds and no turnovers in his 17 minutes. Cleveland’s pressure on the rim downhill was much more dangerous than his arrival, and Schroder has repeatedly displayed his 0-100 burst already. He is very adept at zooming in with a quick cross, protecting the ball on his drives and getting the ball off the board against bigger defenders.

However, it’s not about the numbers with the veteran point guard; it’s about the attitude he comes with.

“He started waving at me after about three plays. That’s when I know it was good,” Atkinson said ahead of Saturday’s game. “And he talked to Donovan, ‘Hey, let’s run to the side.’ I thought, ‘Can I say something here?’ It’s the way you want it.

“I went to talk to (Cavs assistant) Mike Gerrity, I was like, ‘I’m just sitting.’ They are already communicating. We have very few actions and principles, so it’s not like we’re running complicated sets.”

The same goes for Ellis.

“I would say Dennis and Keon, my thing was, ‘We’re not going to talk about your role yet. Go out there and be yourself. That’s it,'” Atkinson said. “That’s what I expected from them the other night. Luckily we got some practice time with those guys; you can talk a little more, where we want to see them.”