Cavs bench steps up with Donovan Mitchell out vs. Jazz – Akron Beacon Journal

CLEVELAND — All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell hit his right shoulder on the basket stanchion Monday night while trying to save the ball from going out of bounds with 19.4 seconds left in the Cavaliers’ 135-130 overtime win over the visiting Houston Rockets.
Afterward, Mitchell said he would be good to go for Wednesday night’s home game against his former team, the Utah Jazz.
However, Mitchell didn’t play Wednesday night, but it was not because of a shoulder issue. About an hour before their 7 p.m. tipoff, the Cavs announced Mitchell would be out with an illness.
In Mitchell’s absence, several Cavs players stepped up — none more than reserve guard Sam Merrill.
Coming off what was a career-high 19 points against the Rockets, Merrill set a new personal best in the NBA by leading the Cavs with 27 points in their 124-116 victory over the Jazz. He finished 9-of-16 shooting from the field, including 8 of 14 on 3-pointers.
When the Cavs opened their Wednesday morning shootaround to members of the media at Cleveland Clinic Courts in Independence, Mitchell was not in attendance. The Cavs then listed Mitchell as questionable to play due to an illness.
During pregame media availability shortly after 5 p.m., coach J.B. Bickerstaff said the Cavs were still waiting to find out whether Mitchell would be able to play. Bickerstaff also said undrafted rookie Craig Porter Jr. would “step in there and take those minutes for us” if Mitchell were out.
The Cavs started Porter, Max Strus, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade and Jarrett Allen against the Jazz.
Cavs (16-12) versus Jazz (10-18) was the first game of a back to back for Cleveland. The Cavs will host the New Orleans Pelicans (16-12) on Thursday night.
Below is some information about the game.
The Cavs finished with a 75-32 advantage in bench points.
Four Cavs players came off the bench and scored in double figures. Merrill had 27 points, guard Caris LeVert 23, forward Georges Niang 15 and center Tristan Thompson 10.
The Cavs held a 101-93 lead with 10:26 left to play after they began the final quarter 3-of-4 shooting on 3-pointers.
Merrill made both of his 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter. Niang made his second 3-point attempt of the final quarter, prompting the Jazz to call timeout with 10:26 remaining.
LeVert’s 3-pointer with 9:09 left in the fourth quarter gave the Cavs a season-high 20 successful 3-pointers and a 104-95 lead.
The Cavs finished with 23 successful 3-pointers, tied for the second most in regular-season team history.
Below is some information about the third quarter.
With 7:47 left the third quarter, the Jazz took their first lead since early in the opening quarter.
Forward Simone Fontecchio tipped the ball in on a shot by guard Collin Sexton for a 71-69 Jazz advantage.
The Jazz led 93-92 at the end of the third quarter.
With 1:26 left in the third quarter, former Cavs forward Lauri Markkanen gave the Jazz a 93-90 lead with a three-point lead.
During the sequence, Markkanen made a dunk and drew a foul from Thompson. Markkanen then made a foul shot to complete the three-point play.
Markkanen finished with a team-high 26 points.
Porter had six points, seven rebounds and six assists at the end of the third quarter, putting him within striking distance of a triple-double with one quarter left. Porter also had three blocked shots.
Below is some information about the first half.
It wasn’t quite a buzzer-beater like the one Merrill had to end the first quarter, but Merrill made a layup with 0.5 seconds left in the second quarter to give Cleveland a 62-56 halftime lead over Utah.
Merrill had a game-high 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field, including 5 of 9 on 3-pointers, in the first half.
Allen ranked second among Cavs players with 14 points.
Forward/center John Collins came off the bench for the Jazz and led them in the first half with 14 points.
The Jazz called timeout with 7:15 left in the second quarter after Niang made a 3-pointer to give the Cavs a 50-41 lead.
The Cavs were 10 of 21 from 3-point range when the Jazz felt the need to regroup.
Merrill was 5-of-7shooting on 3-pointers and had a game-high 15 points on the time.
Below is some information about the first quarter.
A 3-pointer by Wade prompted the Jazz to call timeout with 7:38 remaining in the first quarter.
At that point, the Cavs were 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point range. Strus also made a 3-pointer early in the game.
The Cavs went ahead 26-18 with 2:54 left in the first quarter when Merrill made a 3-pointer a possession after Niang did the same. LeVert had an assist on each play.
A 3-point attempt by Strus went in and out the next time the Cavs had the ball.
Thompson had slam dunks on consecutive possessions, first on a put back of a missed layup by Merrill and then on an assist from Merrill.
Moments later, Merrill made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Cavs a 36-27 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.
When Jazz forward/center Kelly Olynyk came off the bench with 5:44 left in the first quarter, Cavs fans in attendance at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse booed him.
Olynyk received the same treatment whenever he touched the ball.
The background story is when Olynyk played for the Boston Celtics, he yanked the left arm of former Cavs star Kevin Love in the 2015 playoffs. Love suffered a dislocated shoulder as a result.
Below is some pregame information.
Even if Mitchell were available, the Cavs would have been shorthanded. On Friday, the team announced point guard Darius Garland will be sidelined for at least a month due to a broken jaw and forward Evan Mobley for approximately six to eight weeks because of arthroscopic knee surgery.
In Garland’s absence, Mitchell had been playing point guard. The Cavs entered Wednesday with back-to-back wins, beating the visiting Atlanta Hawks 127-119 on Saturday night and then the Rockets.
Among the Cavs players who have stepped up recently is Merrill, who’s from Utah and attended Utah State University. In the win over the Rockets, Merrill scored 19 points. He shot 5-of-10 from 3-point range and added four rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal in a season-high 24 minutes off the bench.
On Wednesday morning, Merrill said he has received a lot of reaction to his 19 points from family and friends.
“I’m very grateful for all the support that I get,” Merrill said. “I just try and stay levelheaded in everything I do. My big thing is if you’re not going to overreact to a bad game, which I try not to do, then you shouldn’t overreact to a good game, either.”
Merrill also explained the banged-up Cavs have rallied around a “next-man-up” concept without using the label.
“It’s a big thing for us,” Merrill said. “But we haven’t really said ‘next-man-up’ type thing ’cause that almost says that the guys towards the end [of the bench] maybe aren’t as good or whatnot, but we have a ton of depth, and we feel really good about all the guys that we have that they can go out there and play and be successful.
“So for us … especially since these guys have gotten hurt, it’s about doing things together and understanding that without some of their shot creation, we’re going to have to do things a little bit differently, but probably the way that we want to play. So we’re off to a good start, but still unfortunately plenty of games left probably without these guys.”
You already know about Mitchell, Garland and Mobley, but there is more to the injury report.
Cavs backup point guards Ty Jerome (ankle) and Ricky Rubio (not with the team due to personal reasons) remained out.
The Jazz ruled out guards Jordan Clarkson (hamstring) and Keyonte George (foot) and center Omer Yurtseven (illness).
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Clarkson is a former Cavs player, just like Sexton and Markkanen.
The Cavs traded Clarkson to the Jazz in 2019.
In a much more notable deal executed last year, the Cavs traded Sexton, Markkanen, 2022 14th overall draft pick Ochai Agbaji, three unprotected first-round choices (2025, 2027 and 2029) and made two pick swaps (2026 and 2028) with the Jazz for Mitchell, who spent his first five NBA seasons in Utah.
Two other Cavs players, Niang (2017-21) and center Damian Jones (2022-23), used to play for the Jazz, too.
The Cavs entered Wednesday’s game 50-62 in their all-time series against the Jazz. Last season, the Cavs and Jazz played twice. The Cavs won in Cleveland in Mitchell’s first game against the Jazz. But the Jazz won the rematch in Utah.
The Cavs will face the Jazz one more time this season: April 2 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

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