The Cleveland Cavaliers’ backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and James Harden came through when it mattered most. They combined for 32 fourth-quarter points to lead Cleveland to the 132-126 victory over the Sacramento Kings.
All is well that ends well. The Mitchell and Harden pairing struggled at the start of the game. They seemingly didn’t want to step on each other’s toes, which resulted in a stagnant half-court offense that mostly involved aimlessly swinging the ball around the perimeter with little off-ball movement.
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The starting lineup featuring four guards with Tyson and Sam Merrill, with Allen as the only forward, didn’t do anyone any favors. I understand why you’d want to go small to simplify things for Harden, but this led to getting beaten on the defensive glass and giving up 27 second-chance points.
The Cavs were able to get back into the game thanks to their bench lineups, and closed with Mitchell and Harden playing their best.
Cleveland took the lead late with back-to-back Harden triples, the last coming from a nice Mitchell swing from the corner to a wide-open Harden.
Both are such talented offensive pieces that bring so much attention to the ball. It’s easy to see what made pulling the trigger on this deal so alluring. The question will be how often we get to see the level of synergy we saw in the fourth quarter.
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In the meantime, we know that Harden is going to make Jarrett Allen’s life easier.
There are few guards better at feeding their forwards than Harden. His size, strength, vision, and ball placement allow him to set up his big man in the perfect spot to score.
Great players make what they do well look easy. Harden did that as he repeatedly found Allen on the block and in the short roll, to set up high-percentage looks.
“In the pick-and-roll, I feel like he found every opportunity to exploit it,” Allen said postgame. “Even if it wasn’t a pass to me, we were just creating action, creating gravity for players to bring it to us.”
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Once Allen gets going, he can be difficult to handle. As we’ve seen throughout this season, Allen needs to be fed early if he’s going to have a major impact. Harden and the Cavs made it a priority to get Allen involved. He rewarded them for doing so with 29 points on 11-12 shooting with 10 rebounds.
This road trip has been a great reminder of how impactful Allen can be. He’s an incredibly good finisher in the paint (and even converted a post fadeaway) and is an underrated playmaker when he has the ball in his hands with room to operate.
Allen’s proficiency in the short roll is going to pair nicely with Harden, who once again showed how good he is when the defense doubles him.
This is one of the areas he’s going to help the offense out most. Harden requires the opposing defense to shift over to him. That will be useful when he’s sharing the floor with Mitchell and anchoring bench lineups.
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Harden’s patience when the double team comes and skill to make the correct, on time, and on target pass give screeners like Allen, Tyson, and Craig Porter Jr. the ability to beat them in the short roll.
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Overall, this was a great debut from Harden, even if it wasn’t perfect.
He — understandably — looked like someone who was trying to find his place on the floor. He wasn’t assertive in the first half and struggled to find his defensive rotations.
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Even when Harden got going in the fourth quarter, he seemed hesitant to drive to the paint, which resulted in his only two free-throw attempts coming once Sacramento had to foul in the final minute and no shot attempts at the rim. It’s not going to be an outstanding scoring night for Harden if he isn’t getting to the basket and the line early and often.
Still, it speaks to how talented Harden is that even when he isn’t at his best, he’s still incredibly valuable. The Cavs don’t come close to winning this game if it’s not for his scoring in the fourth and the playmaking he showed throughout.
This performance should make everyone excited about how things look when Harden gets more acclimated with his new teammates. He finished with 23 points on 7-13 shooting with eight assists and two rebounds.
Keon Ellis was everywhere defensively. He has the rare combination of being both a great individual defender, while also being able to get his hand on the ball anytime someone comes near him with it. Ellis provided three steals and a block in just 17 minutes.
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That defensive effort was useful on a night when only a few of their players decided to show up on that end. It allowed Mitchell and Harden’s fourth-quarter scoring to matter as it did. This led to him being in the closing lineup and finishing the game with a plus/minus of +20.
Dennis Schroder’s production is much needed. His energy and ability to get into the paint have been sorely missed from the backup point guard position. That was on display on Saturday as he picked up seven points and four assists, while being a +22 in just 17 minutes.
The minute distribution is out of balance. Ellis and Schroder were phenomenal and fit exactly what the team needed, but neither played over 17 and a half minutes. Meanwhile, Porter saw just under 23. This isn’t a shot at Porter, but it’s difficult to see him as the superior option over either, especially on a night Mitchell and Harden are both playing.
The rotations are a work in progress. Head coach Kenny Atkinson likely wants to see as many different lineups as possible with the new additions, and it makes sense to reward Porter for how well he’s been playing recently. That said, it’s fair to point out that the lineup combinations — including the four-guard starting unit — left a lot to be desired.
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This is still Mitchell’s team. Even though he was hesitant to step on toes at the start of the game, he wasn’t afraid to take over late. Mitchell scored 29 in the second half on 11-16 shooting, while being confident in taking over in crunch time.
Afterward, Harden praised Mitchell for doing so. He told sideline reporter Serena Winters that Mitchell is “the leader of the team” and that he’s just there to “support him and do whatever it takes to help.”
If this experiment is going to work, it will be because Mitchell and Harden elevate each other on the court as they did down the stretch in Sacramento.
