Cavs react to Evan Mobley hauling in career-high 17 rebounds

Evan Mobley’s 17 rebounds were the most by a Cavaliers rookie since Zydrunas Ilgauskas in 1998.

Evan Mobley on Saturday registered his ninth double-double of the season to help lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 94-87 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Mobley finished with 15 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in 39 minutes of work. He went 6-of-12 from the field while he made his lone 3-point attempt as the Cavaliers have won six out of their last seven games.

The Cavaliers are now 8-1 when Mobley records a double-double this season. His 17 rebounds were the most by a Cavaliers rookie since Zydrunas Ilgauskas on March 4, 1998.

Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff loved how Mobley competed.

I thought he and Jarrett (Allen) were really competing to try to get us a win. I think it started on the boards. I thought both of those guys in the third quarter, and even Evan to start the game, came out with a purpose and I thought they were trying to do the right things to help us win the game and they knew we had to win the defensive boards. We had the size advantage so we had to take advantage of them there.

With the efforts of Mobley and Allen, who finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, the Cavaliers held a 54-41 rebounding advantage over the Thunder on the glass. Mobley also had a career-best five offensive boards in the contest.

“I feel like (we) always try to get rebounds, me and Jarrett,” Mobley said. “It definitely plays a big role in our defense and finishing plays so those rebounds definitely helped us down the stretch.”

Mobley went to work early for the Cavaliers, recording seven points and four rebounds in the first quarter. In the Cavaliers’ previous game, Mobley had eight points in the first quarter as the 20-year-old has made a concerted effort to start games more aggressively.

Darius Garland believes Mobley is playing with more confidence now.

He is just going out there and hooping now. He is not really thinking about anything. He is reading the defense and just getting it done really easy. It is cool to see him doing that this early and I’m super proud of him.

Mobley, through the first half of the season, has emerged as a front-runner to win Rookie of the Year. He is averaging 15 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.7 blocked shots. He is third in scoring average, first in rebounding and first in blocks among all first-year players.

He is off to a tremendous start and a huge reason the Cavaliers are fifth in the Eastern Conference. Cleveland is night and day better with Mobley on the court and Saturday was yet another example of his impact on the team.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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