Recap: Hawks 95, Cavs 101 (or, Spanish Fly)

The Cavs pull off a tough, gritty, defensive-minded win against the formidable Hawks 101-95. The Cavs held the Hawks to sub 40 percent shooting, and sub 30 percent shooting from three. The Cavs were also able to take care of the ball with only 10 turnovers total. Let’s dive right in for tonight’s takeaways:

1. Co-MVPs: Ricky Rubio and NBA Champion Kevin Love

To put it simply, Rubio and Love were special tonight. Rubio stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points, eight assists, six rebounds, a steal and sported the second highest net rating on the team at +21.6. This was what Rubio did in the Tokyo Olympics. After a rough start to the season, Rubio took responsibility for last night’s loss and stepped up as a star should. Rubio is the floor leader that the Cavs have been missing for too long.

NBA champion Kevin Love had a vintage Minnesota performance off the bench, leading the team in net rating with a eye-popping +25.1. Love stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists and some gritty team defense. The Cavs’ offensive rating while Love was on the court? 129.2!

2. Evan Mobley with a Rookie of the Year performance

Mobley turned in one of the best performances by a rookie you’ll see all year, and it’s only his third game! 17 points, 11 rebounds, four blocks, and a steal and assist to boot. Mobley’s net rating? +5.9 in a team-leading 35 minutes. Mobley finally settled in on the defensive end, with the Cavs putting up an insane defensive rating (88.6) while he was on the court. There will be bumps on the road, but that road is clearly on the way to basketball superstardom.

3. J.B. makes the tough call down the stretch

One of the most crucial decisions of the game was Coach J.B. Bickerstaff deciding to run with Isaac Okoro at the shooting guard position over Collin Sexton down the stretch. Granted J.B.’s decision was a lot easier to make with Sexton picking up his fifth foul early in the fourth quarter. The decision paid off on the offensive end ironically enough, with Okoro’s connective passing (three assists) and clutch three helping to close the game out. And to be clear, Young Bull played well, perhaps even better than last night’s performance because of his willingness to make the extra pass (five assists, and many potential assists botched by Allen and Markkanen). But Young Bull’s tendency to stall the offense with over-dribbling and isolation plays reared it’s ugly head before he got yanked in the fourth quarter. Credit to J.B. for making the tough decision and putting the team first.

4. Lauri Markkanen kept fighting

The Big Finn did not have the offense working tonight. He shot horribly (3-15 from the field) and the Cavs’ offense was terrible (88.2 offensive rating) while he was on the floor. But Markkanen came up big down the stretch with defense and hustle, collecting eight rebounds (three offensive boards), and four stocks. It’s a credit to Markkanen that he kept competing and rewarded the trust Bickerstaff had in him to close the game out. Hopefully this game is a jump off point to a fully engaged, aggressive Lauri Markkanen.

5. On the road…

The Cavs will now embark upon their brutal road trip to end October, starting with the Denver Nuggets in the Mile High City on Monday night at 9:00pm ET. GO CAVS!