Game Night Observations: A New Record Winning Streak and Evan Mobley's Battle
Remember when the Cavs *only* won 15 straight to start the season?
The Cleveland Cavaliers won their 16th consecutive game on Friday night, defeating the Memphis Grizzlies 133-124 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score might indicate.
On Friday night, Evan Mobley was the best player for the Cavs. He was the only player for Cleveland to play more than 30 minutes and finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds and the Cavs outscored the Grizzlies by 16 points when he was on the floor.
Mobley having a big game against Memphis shouldn’t come as a surprise. When these two teams met last month, he had 25 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. The Grizzlies might just be a team he matches up well against, or it could be a night where there’s extra motivation for him.
This isn’t something Mobley has said publicly — at least not to my knowledge — but in games where he’s squaring off against a player he’s often compared to, the best seems to come out of him. It seems like there’s a little bit of extra juice in these matchups.
In the race for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, Jaren Jackson Jr. was briefly the odds-on favorite after San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the season. Those odds changed after Mobley outplayed him in February1. Mobley outplayed Jackson Jr. again on Friday night.
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