It was a bad night for the Bulls to be down four players in the health and safety protocol, and a bad team to have to go against. Mobley and the long Cavs frontcourt made the smaller Bulls pay all night, beating them 115-92.
CLEVELAND – Zach LaVine at least wanted to test the rookie.
Go at him first-hand and see if the building Evan Mobley hype is real.
Oh, it’s real.
As the Bulls All-Star took flight towards the rim in the third quarter, not only did Mobley meet him in mid-air with one of his five blocks, but then ripped the basketball from LaVine as the two were going back to the ground. On top of that, how about an elbow from the 20 year old to clear LaVine out from even attempting to swipe at the ball for a steal.
It was that kind of night for LaVine and the Bulls.
USC over UCLA in the Mobley-LaVine matchup, and Cavaliers over the Bulls in the on-the-court matchup. And not just over the Bulls, but all over them, finishing off the undermanned visiting team 115-92.
As for the third overall pick in the 2021 draft in Mobley, the 6-foot-11 versatile forward/center finished with 16 points, nine rebounds, the five blocks, two steals, a game-high plus-28 in plus/minus and a handful of headaches handed out.
“The kid’s good,” LaVine said. “He’s really raw, but he’s got great defensive instincts. Obviously extremely long and can make shots around the basket. You could see why he really helps their team.”
What also helped the Cavaliers?
The Bulls (17-9) having four players in DeMar DeRozan, Javonte Green, Matt Thomas and Coby White in the NBA’s health and safety protocol, and being forced to play a rotation even smaller in size than usual.
Not a great recipe for having to deal with a very long Cleveland frontcourt that actually starts 7-footer Lauri Markkanen at the three.
“Obviously we’re playing extremely small,” LaVine said. “We’re playing guards against [Mobley], so you might see a couple shots you usually might not see, but you gotta take advantage of those situations and he did that. Their whole team took advantage of us being small.”
That’s how Cleveland (14-12) finished with eight blocks as a team.
What was encouraging for the Bulls, however, was that while they might be playing small and undermanned for the next few games, it’s not a group that dwells on excuses.
“I mean I don’t walk into the game like, ‘whoa us,’ ” LaVine said. “You understand that it’s going to be harder than it would be with everybody back. I think we can fight through it. I still go into it thinking we’re going to be OK and we can win. That’s my mentality.”
And the mentality coach Billy Donovan wants this group to keep. They were also undermanned in the win over Denver on Monday, so carry that same energy to Miami for Saturday.
“I thought they overwhelmed us to be honest with you and really dominated us in the game on both ends of the floor,” Donovan said. “I think we’re better than that, and we need to be better than that. I don’t know who or when is coming back on what dates. My feeling is we’re going into Miami with this same group, and if we don’t compete at a higher level we’re going to get the same result.”
The one player who admitted he needs to be better was Nikola Vucevic. To say his shot was off against Cleveland was a huge understatement, as he finished 8-for-23 (1-for-7 from three), finishing with 18 points.
“[Wednesday] was frustrating because I really felt like I was getting good looks,” Vucevic said. “I felt like if I made – especially in the (3-for-13) first half – some of my shots that I had, we would have been in a better position. That’s the most frustrating part. Making shots is part of my game and something I have to do consistently.”