On Wednesday evening, the Cleveland Cavs’ winning ways continued with a blowout home victory over what is left of the Washington Wizards at home. The game marked James Harden’s home debut in Cleveland, but Sam Merrill ended up stealing the show, scoring 32 points on an incredible 9-10 from beyond the arc in the win.
After the game, Merrill had a hilariously blunt reaction to the scoring explosion.
“Haven’t had one like that in a little bit,” said Merrill, per Leah Doherty of Cleveland 19 News on X, formerly Twitter.
In fact, Merrill has never had one quite like that, at least not on the NBA level, as the shooting guard set a career high with his performance against the Wizards.
Merill is one of several sharpshooters that the Cavs have on their roster, and the team is still holding out hope that injured wing Max Strus will be able to return at some point this season from his injury.
The Cavs had been playing some improved basketball for over a month now, but that kicked into a higher gear with their recent trade for Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden, sending out two-time All-Star point guard Darius Garland in the process.
Harden hasn’t had a scoring explosion in his new Cavs threads just yet, but he has provided a degree of stability and playmaking to the Cavs, giving star Donovan Mitchell a much-needed reliable co-star to help guide the ship.
Thus far, Harden and Mitchell have shown no signs of the lack of chemistry that some fans predicted considering that they both tend to dominate the ball. Harden’s mostly successful pairing with Chris Paul during his time with the Houston Rockets might have made him more comfortable in adjusting to his new role with Cleveland.
In any case, the Cavs will now head into the All-Star break with a ton of momentum.