On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers and their fans got their first up close and personal look at Cleveland Cavaliers rookie big man Evan Mobley.
Mobley had an impressive game, and Lakers superstar big man Anthony Davis was asked if there are any similarities between him and the University of Southern California product.
“This is my first time seeing him play, to be honest,” Davis said. “He’s probably the same size I was coming into the league. Pretty skinny. Elite shot-blocker. Lob threat. Kind of has some of the same things I had when I was coming into the league. But probably shot it a little bit better than me. His game is going to progress. He’s going to keep getting better and better. You see the potential to be a three-level scorer, watching film on him a little before the game. I seen him shoot the 3. He hit one tonight. I seen him hit the midrange and floaters. He’d go to the post a lot in the game I’ve watched. He has the potential to be very good. It takes time. But I don’t really compare myself to anybody.”
In six games for the Cavs, Mobley is averaging 15.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. His defense, especially in the paint, has been strong, and many are very high on his potential.
One former NBA executive even said that the prediction of Mobley as “Chris Bosh 2.0” has been “undersold.”
On Friday, he had 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and got plenty of easy baskets inside the painted area.
The Lakers, on two different occasions, fell behind by a sizable margin against the Cavs. But they went on a spurt late in the third quarter to take the lead, and they then extended their advantage throughout the fourth quarter.
L.A. ended up winning 113-101 to improve to 3-3 on the season.
Davis had a quiet game offensively, but he still had nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Carmelo Anthony led the Lakers’ late charge and finished with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field and a sizzling 6-of-8 from 3-point range.
Coming into Friday, the Lakers had major problems on the defensive end. But against Cleveland, they only allowed 16 points in the final period and held the Cavs to 42.5 percent shooting from the field for the entire contest.
