INDEPENDENCE — James Harden’s ability to make each of his new teammates better in different ways has stood out in the first nine games with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The instant chemistry he’s developed with Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Sam Merrill has been easy to see. Evan Mobley is looking to be the next Cavalier to benefit from playing alongside the all-time great guard.
“He’s not scared to take risks,” Mobley said about playing alongside Harden after practice on Saturday. “There’s a lot of benefits with how he just controls the game.”
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Mobley hasn’t had the same time to develop chemistry with Harden. He missed Harden’s first few games with the team due to a calf strain. As such, they’ve played in just five games and 99 minutes together, but the results have been impressive.
Cleveland has been good on both ends of the court when Harden and Mobley share the floor. They’re scoring 118.4 points per 100 possessions (76th percentile for offensive ratings) and allowing 102.3 points per 100 possessions (99th percentile for a defensive rating) when both are playing. These lineups have outscored opponents by 16 points per 100 possessions, which is in the 98th percentile for net rating.
It’s a much smaller sample size when Mobley is the only center on the court (just 57 possessions). Groups with Harden and Mobley, but without Allen, have been better offensively as they’ve posted a 122.8 offensive rating (95th percentile). The defense hasn’t been as good as they’ve had a 120 defensive rating (20th percentile) and just a +2.8 net rating (65th percentile). It’s worth noting that the Cavs have been without Dean Wade in most of these lineup configurations, which likely hurts how they’ve performed defensively.
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Lineups with Mobley as the only big alongside Harden will likely get tested on Sunday against the Boston Celtics. Allen may not be able to go as he’s still dealing with knee soreness after leaving Tuesday’s game against the Detroit Pistons with a knee injury.
Offensively, these groups have thrived due to Mobley knowing exactly what he needs to do to make things work on that end.
“I got to be dominating the paint,” Mobley said. He pointed out that it includes setting good screens and being aggressive offensively so that Harden can attack in the pick-and-roll.
Being a more physical screen setter is an area Mobley needs to improve. He is good at finishing in the pick-and-roll and can have success alongside Harden by just slipping screens. However, doing so doesn’t create the same space for Harden that a physical screen does.
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Mobley knows that he will need to set harder screens for Harden.
“Hitting my screen hard,” Mobley said when asked how he could help Harden. “They’re going to put the best defenders on him, make sure we get [his defender] off James.” Mobley also mentioned that they want to get switches in these actions, which requires him to roll hard to the basket to do so.
There’s a learning curve that comes with playing alongside a new pick-and-roll partner, which is something the duo is still working through.
“Tendencies, that’s the main thing,” Mobley said. “When they like to throw it. How they like to throw it, how they would like to come off the screen as well. When he looks to attack, when he doesn’t. … I’ve been watching him most of my life, so I know some of his tendencies, but as you play with him, you learn more and more.”
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Plugging Harden into the offense has worked incredibly well so far for the Cavs, but there are still areas that the team needs to work through. And they only have 19 games to do so. As of now, they’re confident that’s enough time for everyone to get up to speed.
“We’ve done a great job so far,” Mobley said. “All the guys fit in pretty well. We just got to keep sharpening it.”
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