Evan Mobley Channels Dominance in Cavaliers Win, Draws Shaq Comparison
On a night when the Cleveland Cavaliers needed someone to step up, Evan Mobley didn’t just answer the call-he kicked the door down.
Mobley dropped 29 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, dished out eight assists, and swatted away four shots in a 123-118 win over the Sacramento Kings. It was the kind of performance that made his head coach, Kenny Atkinson, reach for a name that carries serious weight in NBA history.
“Man, he was like Shaquille [O’Neal] tonight,” Atkinson said postgame. “Seriously, the way he was-just rim, rim, rim. And then dominated the defensive side.”
That’s not a comparison coaches throw around lightly. But on Friday, Mobley earned it.
He shot 13-of-24 from the field-an efficient 54%-and while he missed all four of his attempts from deep, it hardly mattered. Mobley wasn’t settling.
He was attacking. He was imposing.
He was everywhere.
And that block with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter? Let’s just say if someone in Westlake finds a basketball lodged in their garage roof, they know who to thank.
This wasn’t just a good game from Mobley-it was one of the most complete performances of his young career. Since entering the league in 2021, Mobley has shown flashes of brilliance.
But this was something else. This was a player fully in control, dictating both ends of the floor.
Atkinson acknowledged how much they’ve asked of Mobley this season. Early on, the Cavaliers experimented with expanding his role-more ball-handling, more perimeter shooting, more responsibility.
But it started to look like too much, too fast. So they pivoted.
Instead of piling on, the coaching staff focused on unlocking what Mobley already does at an elite level: getting downhill, attacking the rim, and letting his instincts take over-especially off the ball.
That shift in approach paid off in a big way on Friday. Mobley came out firing, scoring 13 of his 29 points in the first quarter. It set the tone not just for him, but for the entire team.
“He was creating,” Atkinson said. “We weren’t getting much going elsewhere-Dennis Schröder was all over Don[ovan Mitchell].
I think [Mobley] had 10 potential assists, too. He was dominant.”
Donovan Mitchell echoed the sentiment, pointing to Mobley’s growth and the importance of consistency moving forward.
“When he’s doing that, we are a very, very good team,” Mitchell said. “Honestly, a lot of it is going to be on him to go. These things take time, especially when it’s not your nature, and he’s grown into that.
“The last 10-15, whatever, he’s been putting a lot of good performances together and I think tonight was the most complete. Now the challenge is let’s do it again, and again, and again.”
That’s the next step for Mobley. Turning nights like this into the standard, not the exception.
For his part, Mobley isn’t getting caught up in the comparisons-though he appreciated the praise.
“I don’t know about [Shaq], but I definitely felt dominant out there,” Mobley said. “Just keep trusting the process. Keep putting in the hard work and keep attacking when I see the opportunities, every single time.”
Friday night was a glimpse of what Mobley can be when everything clicks. The Cavaliers saw it.
The Kings felt it. And if he keeps this up, the rest of the league is going to have to deal with it.