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4 hours ago
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The main catalyst of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ drastic improvement from last season to this year has been the growth of Evan Mobley.
When head coach Kenny Atkinson was hired last offseason, he placed a strong emphasis on the former No. 3 pick shooting more three pointers to open up the paint.
He nearly tripled his attempts per game this season and has taken his shooting to another level in the playoffs.
Through five games Mobley is shooting an absurd 45% on over four attempts per game.
He has been one of the biggest reasons for Cleveland’s success this year, but he may hurt them going forward.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) shoots in the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center.
© Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
After sweeping the Miami Heat in the first round, the Cavs got matched up with the Indiana Pacers in round two.
With All-Star point guard Darius Garland out, the team dropped the first game at home.
Mobley had a dominant game with 20 points and 10 rebounds to go along with some stellar rim protection and although he didn’t appear to tweak anything during the game, he popped up on Cleveland’s injury report Monday afternoon.
With Garland’s status still up in the air, the Cavaliers’ impressive season filled with such optimism could crash and burn.
Indiana proved to be a pesky playoff team last year when they came back from a 2-0 series deficit against the New York Knicks to win in seven games.
Although the Cavs had the second-best record in basketball this year, it would almost assuredly be a death sentence to drop both home games at the start of the series.
The playoffs are a period where everyone, especially stars, play through injury so there is still a chance that Mobley is a go for tomorrow’s contest.
However, if he does miss the game or if he is extremely limited then things could get ugly for Cleveland very quick.
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