The best playoff performance of Evan Mobley's young career was undoubtedly Game 2 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics.
The 22 year-old finished Thursday night with 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting, 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocks, and a steal. Not to mention the Cavs won his 33 minutes of play by a whopping 35 points en route to 118-94 victory over Boston.
While that stat line is quite nice, it still drastically undersells just how dominant Mobley was against the Celtics in Game 2. His defense wasn't just good — it was nearly perfect.
Take this possession, for example:
The Celtics passing out of multiple layup attempts in the same possession because they don't want to challenge Evan Mobley at the rim. pic.twitter.com/gZPiq5hnXq
— Daniel Olinger (@dan_olinger) May 10, 2024
Mobley doesn't get credited for a single box-score stat during that 20-second sequence, but his presence is surely felt. It's the horrifying prospect of challenging him and his 7-foot-4 wingspan at the rim that spooks several Celtics out of even attempting shots in the paint.
Jaylen Brown gets his shoulder ahead of Max Strus, but quickly pivots away when he sees Mobley lurking. Xavier Tillman catches the ball with great inside position at the rim, only to retreat from the rip once he sees Mobley's pterodactyl arms hovering over him. Jrue Holiday's final drive creates another great 2-on-1 situation for Boston, only he doesn't like his chances trying Mobley at the rim either, and instead opts to kick to Payton Prichard for a heavily contested three as the shot clock expires.
What Mobley showcases here is a concept called rim deterrence — where the presence of the defender alone is enough to prevent shots at the rim from the opponent. That's obviously a huge boon to any defense given that an attempt at the rim is still the most valuable shot in basketball.
The two or three shots that get blocked by a towering center each night might be the plays that end up on the highlight reel, but even more important are the shots that never even get attempted because of your very presence. Just ask Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year runner-up Victor Wembanyama.
both grizzlies players on a fastbreak choose to not attempt a layup because of Wembanyama pic.twitter.com/gp1ftsf5Wc
— Fastbreak Breakfast (@fastbreakbreak) March 23, 2024
Really, one can't fully appreciate Mobley's defensive dominance in Game 2 from watching a highlight mix. The full scope can't be grasped by calculating all kinds of all-in-one metrics that spit out some big number. Appreciating Mobley comes back to one of the oldest adages known to hoopers everywhere: you have to watch the games, man.
By my count, Mobley had eight different instances in Game 2 where he successfully prevented a shot at the rim or in the paint simply with his presence and the threat that he might send the shot into the fifth row. Eight different times the Celtics got to the paint, but decided they'd rather retreat than take a shot at the rim against Mobley.
Of course, there were also several instances where Celtics players did challenge Mobley at the cup, but those plays didn't work out too well for them either. Mobley altered shot attempt after shot attempt, and forced miss after miss with his incredible length and expert timing. In total, Game 2 was nothing short of a rim-protection masterclass from Mobley.
After a Game 1 that couldn't have gone much worse for Cleveland, the Cavs might have altered their fortunes in this series with their defensive adjustment to have Mobley roam off-ball on defense at all times and patrol the paint like a guardian.
The Celtics looked foolish on the possessions where they passed out of potential layups, but perhaps even more so on the possessions where they thought they could sneak one past Cleveland's ever-present back-line defender.
Obviously, there were other driving factors behind the Cavs evening the series at 1-1. Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert combined for 50 points on 34 shots, and the Celtics shot an uncharacteristically horrible 8-for-35 from three. No one would be shocked if Joe Mazzulla and Co. make a few adjustments, knock down a few more threes, and come out of either Games 3 or 4 with comfortable wins in Cleveland.
But still, Game 2 was a wake-up call for the Celtics. Just because they're heavily favored over the Cavs doesn't mean this series will be a cakewalk, and a big reason for that is the continually dominant defense of one Evan Mobley.
