'Not afraid of the moment': Evan Mobley's clutch 3-pointer lifts Cleveland Cavs over 76ers

CLEVELAND — When Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley discovered the Philadelphia 76ers had left him wide open in crunch time, he believed in himself.

Mobley's clutch 3-pointer with 28.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter put the Cavs ahead for good in their 117-114 victory over the 76ers on Friday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

“I've just got to keep shooting them like that with confidence, keep working on it and knocking them down,” Mobley said. “I feel like it will just help the team a lot and help myself as well.”

The 7-foot Mobley isn't known for his marksmanship, yet he has improved quite a bit from deep this season despite missing 32 games with knee and ankle injuries. The third overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is shooting 37.2% from 3-point range compared with 21.6% last season and 25% as a rookie.

The Cavs (45-29) trailed the Sixers (39-35) by a point until Mobley made a 23-footer on an assist from point guard Darius Garland. The shot gave Cleveland a 115-113 lead, and the team held on for the win after 76ers center Mo Bamba split a pair of free throws with 18.8 seconds left and Cavs All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell made two with 12.8 seconds remaining in his return from a six-game absence caused by injury.

Mobley's 3-pointer capped his 10-point fourth quarter. He scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half. He finished 7-of-10 shooting from the field and compiled 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and a steal in 31 minutes.

“To be able to hit that shot in that moment, that's big time,” said Mitchell, who had 12 points and eight assists. “… If teams want to leave him [open], we're going to tell him to keep shooting it.”

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Mobley made both of his 3-point attempts, one in the third quarter and the other with the game on the line.

“To have the courage to take that shot in that moment just speaks to him,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He is the ultimate competitor, the ultimate winner. He's willing to do whatever it takes to help us win. He's just not afraid of the moment.”

Reserve veteran forward Georges Niang led the Cavs with a game-high 25 points. Cleveland has just eight regular-season games left before the playoffs begin April 20, so Niang noted two developments as potentially significant moving forward. The first was Mobley's dagger 3-pointer. The second was Garland's defensive effort against 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, who scored 16 points on 7-of-26 shooting from the field in 43 minutes.

Those factors helped the Cavs end their 2023-24 regular-season series with the Sixers 2-2.

“I don't know if you knew that I played for the Sixers last year,” Niang said. “So it felt good to beat them.”

It wouldn't have happened without Mobley's growing faith in his 3-point shot.

“He stuck with it,” said Cavs center Jarrett Allen, who tallied 13 points and 11 rebounds. “Throughout this whole year, he kept on working. He kept on shooting the same shots knowing that eventually his shot was going to fall. I think tonight was a perfect showing of all that hard work he put in.”

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Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Evan Mobley makes clutch 3-pointer to help Cavs defeat 76ers