Cavs news: Evan Mobley imposes will against Kings: ‘He was like Shaquille’

Evan Mobley went to work Friday night with a season-high 29 points, ace The Cleveland Cavaliers outlasted the Sacramento Kings in a 123-118 win at Rocket Arena. With 13 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks, it was a great example of what the third overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft is capable of.

Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson brought up the Hall of Fame name when describing what the performance looked like.

“He was like Shaquille (O’Neal) tonight,” Atkinson said after the game. “I mean, seriously, the way he was just, ‘rim, rim, rim,’ and then dominated the defensive end. That was one of the most dominant plays I’ve seen from him, and we needed it.”

“I don’t know about that, but I definitely felt dominant out there,” Mobley added with a laugh afterward. “I definitely felt like I could get to most of the shots I wanted to in the paint and score at a high rate.”

Cleveland All-Star running back Donovan Mitchell was pretty much free after the septum came out.

“My God,” Mitchell said. “I don’t care about blocked shots and defense; if he’s doing that, we’re a very, very good team.”

“And he made 10 potential assists,” Atkinson added. “He was dominant. It was a great performance tonight.”

Mitchell used the Charlotte Hornets game as an example of how Mobley went from playing well in 24 minutes to playing well all night.

“We didn’t have the communication about trying to continue it. The first half was just like this. The second half he was trying to find it. This game it was like, ‘I’m just going to go. I’m going. I’m going. I’m going to attack.’

“That’s what you want to see from him, not necessarily for us to keep getting him, but for him to say, ‘I’m going downhill, I can’t be stopped, I’m getting to the paint. If I get a three, then I’m going; if not, I’m going to finish.’ And he did it for 48 minutes, and it was the most amazing part I saw tonight.”

Mobley made his season-high 24 field goal attempts on Friday. This was also only the third time Mobley had scored 20 this monthand the first time he has lost this many points since Halloween. He dropped the second most coins on the season.

All in all, it was a great night for Mobley, and the Cavs will need this from him.

“We’re doing more things for him, but I think he just takes the load, and I think a lot of the circumstances go into it,” Atkinson said of Mobley’s production, citing the team since Darius Garland and Sam Merrill are gone.

“I definitely have the mental drive to just start the game strong and try to keep it going,” Mobley added. “And I think these last few games as well, I’ve been hot and I’ve been making the first few, so that gets the game going for me.”