How Sam Merrill's huge game for Cavs evoked memories of journey toward NBA breakthrough
CLEVELAND — A pickup basketball game with future Cavaliers teammates several years ago and a heart-to-heart conversation with coach J.B. Bickerstaff earlier this season are among the moments Sam Merrill recalled Wednesday night after his storybook performance against his hometown NBA team.
Merrill scored a career-high 27 points to lead the short-handed Cavs to a 124-116 victory over the Utah Jazz at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, where Cleveland fans serenaded the reserve guard with cheers as he conducted a postgame interview on the court.
What's not to like about Merrill?
He shot 9 of 16 from the field, including 8 of 14 from 3-point range. His eight 3-pointers tied for the most in team history by a player who came off the bench, and he added three rebounds, two assists and one steal in 30 minutes.
He helped the Cavs (16-12) score a season-high 75 bench points, more than double the Jazz's 32 bench points.
To make Merrill's night more remarkable, consider his Utah roots. Merrill explained he was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Jazz (10-18) play their home games. He was a self-proclaimed “huge Jazz fan” as a youngster.
“To be able to have a game like that against them is even more special, for sure,” Merrill said.
How Sam Merrill stepped up for the Cavs while they were missing Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley
Coming off what had been a career-high 19 points in Monday's 135-130 overtime win over the Houston Rockets, Merrill established a new NBA personal best in scoring Wednesday and helped Cleveland earn its third consecutive victory, this time with All-Star Donovan Mitchell sitting out because of an illness.
The Cavs were already without starting point guard Darius Garland (jaw surgery) and starting forward Evan Mobley (knee surgery).
“This is what the NBA is about,” Bickerstaff said. “It's about making dreams come true. [Merrill has] worked his tail off, and he's definitely making his dream come true.”
Merrill, 27, insisted he has had “all the confidence in the world” in himself, but his patience for a breakthrough moment in the league has been tested.
“I've worked as hard as I could and felt like there were times where maybe this wasn't going to work out,” Merrill said. “To be honest, in high school, my goal was to play Division I basketball. The NBA was never even in my sights.
“I just didn't think that was going to happen 'cause guys where I'm from usually don't, and I just kept working and working and working. There's been ups and downs these last three and a half years since I've been out of college.”
Heading into Merrill's junior season at Utah State University, he played a pickup game involving then-Jazz players Mitchell and forward Georges Niang, both of whom are now his Cavs teammates.
“It's kind of come full circle,” Merrill said.
After the Cavs' win over the Rockets, Mitchell shared the story of the pickup game and said of Merrill, “This is who he is.”
Niang experienced a flashback Wednesday.
“We went up to Utah State,” Niang said. “Sam was doing a lot of the same Sam things up at Utah State that he does in Cleveland. He could always shoot it. He's done a tremendous job in this league.
“You just put your head down and wait for your break to come. It's so rewarding for guys that get their break and I think rewarding for guys like me to see guys how hard they work and they get their break. It's actually really cool to see because he deserves it.”
Sam Merrill led a record-setting performance for Cleveland Cavaliers bench players vs. the Utah Jazz
All four players who came off the Cavs bench reached double figures in scoring. Merrill had 27 points, Niang 15, guard Caris LeVert 23 and center Tristan Thompson 10. Starting forward Max Strus scored 18 points, and starting center Jarrett Allen had 17 points to go along with eight rebounds.
The Cavs shot 51 3-pointers and made 23, a season high and tied for second in the team's regular-season history. They tallied a season-high 34 assists, led by LeVert's seven.
With Merrill on fire, the Cavs finished with a franchise-record 15 3-pointers off the bench.
“That's my bench buddy. The guy's got a flamethrower as y'all can see,” said undrafted rookie point guard Craig Porter Jr., who started in place of Mitchell and tallied six points, seven rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots without committing a turnover in 25 minutes. “It's nothing new. We all know it's there. It's just one of those things when your number's called upon, you've got to be ready. He's been tremendous.”
Cavs vs. Jazz: Find out how the action unfolded and who received boos from Cleveland fans all night
A second-round draft pick of the New Orleans Pelicans in 2020, Merrill has bounced around the NBA, playing for the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies before joining the Cavs last March on a 10-day contract and then signing a multi-year deal. In October 2022, the Cleveland Charge chose Merrill with the first overall pick of the NBA G League Draft.
Before the Cavs played the Denver Nuggets on Nov. 19, Merrill had appeared in just six of Cleveland's first 12 games. He met with Bickerstaff to ensure the Cavs felt as if he were doing everything in his power to stay ready for a greater opportunity.
“J.B. reiterated the trust that the whole staff has in me and what I can do,” Merrill said. “For me, it's always going to be a fight to show that I can do more than just shoot.
“I think they've understood that from the moment they signed me that there's more to it, especially on the defensive end competing and staying in front of guys and being in the right spots and whatnot. So I certainly came away with quite a bit of confidence.”
Just look how it has paid off for Merrill lately.
Donovan Mitchell knew the potential: Cavs' Sam Merrill kept waiting for the call to the NBA
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sam Merrill's patience pays off in Cavaliers win over Jazz
