The Cleveland Cavs are currently gearing up for their upcoming NBA playoff matchup against the Toronto Raptors, which is slated to kick off on Saturday afternoon. The Cavs will be banking heavily on big man Evan Mobley to show up in this series and put his full skillset on display against a tough Toronto team.
Mobley had another solid year for the Cavs this season, but he did have one major weak point, which was his outside shooting. In fact, Mobley ranked dead last among qualified players in terms of total points added on pullup three-pointers, catch and shoot threes, free throws, and long twos, this season, per @automaticNBA on X, formerly Twitter.
Mobley has shown flashes of being a capable outside shooter throughout his career, but those percentages nosedived this year, particularly toward the end of the season, with teams routinely leaving the former lottery pick by himself on the perimeter.
The Raptors are likely to follow a similar strategy and pack the paint against Cleveland in order to deter Donovan Mitchell and James Harden as much as possible, so Mobley will likely see his fair share of open “dare shots” from beyond the arc.
Whether he shoots them with confidence, or even takes them to begin with, remains to be seen, but if not, this series could quickly turn into an ugly defensive slugfest, which is likely just how the Raptors want things to go.
Still, the Cavs’ premium talent in the form of Harden and Mitchell, in addition to their own defensive prowess, headlined by Mobley, should give them the edge in this matchup.
Game 1 is set for Saturday at 1:00 pm ET from Cleveland.