Gameday

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On Monday night, the Wine & Gold ended a dominant week with a dominant performance – capping a perfect Summer League run with a wire-to-wire 99-78 blowout of the Rockets at the Thomas & Mack Center.&nbsp;

Both squads came into the Championship game with perfect marks after the first five games in Las Vegas, but the Cavaliers served notice that they were the hungrier team from the opening tip on Monday – running out to a two-touchdown lead after one quarter and barely looking back from there, winning their first NBA 2K Summer League title in team history.&nbsp;

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are Summer League Champs!

Earlier in the day, Cleveland’s leading scorer, Sam Merrill, was deservedly named to the Summer League’s First Team. Emoni Bates, who looks to be the steal of the Second Round, was just as deserving of his Second Team nod.&nbsp;

Despite an outstanding week, Isaiah Mobley wasn’t named to either team. And he took it out on Houston right from the start.&nbsp;

Mobley, who canned the overtime game-winner in Sunday night’s semifinal win over Brooklyn, notched 11 points in the first quarter and had 18 at the break. When the smoke cleared, the 49th&nbsp;overall pick in&nbsp;last&nbsp;year’s Draft led both teams with 28 points, going 12-for-20 from the floor, adding a game-high 11 boards to go with three assists, two steals and a pair of blocked shots.&nbsp;

After presenting the Championship trophy to Mike Gerrity, who coached the squad for the second straight year, Mobley was named the title game’s Most Valuable Player.&nbsp;

“I try not to worry about stuff I can’t control,” Mobley said about the Summer League Team snub. “Do I agree with it? No. But it is what it is. I’ll take the Championship over that all day, even if I didn’t get MVP. I’m proud of my guys who did. Sam and Emoni played outstanding throughout the week and without them, we wouldn’t have been here.”&nbsp;

Mobley was part of that “Summer League Big Three” that powered the Wine & Gold throughout their six-game roll – with Merrill and Bates closing out their respective runs in style. 

Merrill, who led the 2023 Summer League in three-pointers, left his calling card again on Monday night – going 6-for-12 from long-range to finish with 27 points. Overall, the 27-year-old sharpshooter was 8-of-14 from the floor and 5-of-6 from the stripe, adding four boards and a pair of dimes in the win.&nbsp;

“(I was) just trying to stay confident,” said Merrill of his rock-solid week out West. “I’ve put in a lot of work and the shots that I’ve made are the shots that I’ve worked on a lot, so for me it’s about staying confident, trying to have some swagger out there and trying to do what I do. There’s going to be nights like last night where I don’t shoot as well, but I feel good if I keep shooting and get the shots that I like that most of them are going to go in.”&nbsp;

Bates wrapped up a week-plus run of netting double-digit scoring in every game he played – chipping in with 19 points, going 6-for-13 from the floor, including 2-of-6 from deep and 5-of-5 from the line, adding five boards, four assists, a steal and a block. The lean swingman from Eastern Michigan didn’t miss a free throw in 13 attempts in Vegas.&nbsp;

“(I’m) just learning,” said the 19-year-old regarding his next steps this summer. “I’m going to go back and watch film and try to keep growing. I’m not going to harp on the wins. I just want to get better on things I can improve on, for sure.”&nbsp;

Craig Porter wrapped up an excellent week of work – getting his third straight start and responding by leading both squads with eight assists to go with eight points, nine rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot.&nbsp;

Luke Travers also showed off his versatility in Monday’s title game – chipping in with six points on 3-of-5 shooting, adding four boards, four assists, a steal and a pair of swats. In six games, the young Aussie – taken with the 56th&nbsp;overall pick in the 2022 Draft – rejected 13 shots.

The young Cavaliers Summer League squad raised some eyebrows in Vegas in winning the whole enchilada. Now they plan to make the coaching staff make some difficult decisions when Training Camp tips off later this fall.&nbsp;

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Cavs Go Wire-to-Wire, Top Houston to Claim Summer League Championship

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The Cavaliers lift the Summer League trophy after defeating the Houston Rockets in the championship game. Hear from Head Coach Mike Gerrity and the championship MVP, Isaiah Mobley.

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Isaiah Mobley and Luke Travers run a pick-and-roll to perfection, with Travers lobbing upstairs to Mobley for the easy dunk.

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Alley-Oop from Travers to Mobley

Emoni Bates gets an and-one to go on the fast break and follows that up with a big block into the stands against the Rockets.

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Bates Doing it on Both Ends of the Floor

The Cavaliers connect on four three pointers in the first quarter to build an early lead over the Houston Rockets.

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Cavs Get off to Hot Shooting Start

Emoni Bates and Craig Porter Jr. trade passes-to-dunks with each other, with Bates finding Porter Jr. cutting and dunking, and Porter Jr. hitting Bates with an outlet pass.

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Bates Assists Porter Jr., Porter Jr. then Assists Bates

Other teams might have come into Summer League play with bigger names and higher Draft picks, but as it stands, the Wine & Gold are now one victory away from winning the whole enchilada on Monday night in Vegas. 

The Cavaliers made it a perfect 5-0 and reached the NBA 2K24 Summer League title game in dramatic fashion.&nbsp;

With Cleveland needing just one bucket for the overtime win, Isaiah Mobley backed Brooklyn’s RaiQuan Gray down into the lane, turned and rattled home the game-winner – sealing the 102-99 victory at the Thomas & Mack Center in Sunday’s semifinal.

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Mobley Wins it in Overtime!

The Cavs had to fend off the Nets – who they dropped in the opener nine days ago – twice in Sunday’s win.

Cleveland led by 11 points to start the fourth quarter and by nine with five minutes to play, but the Nets stormed back to tie the game on Armoni Brooks three-pointer to tie the game at 101-apiece with 17 seconds to play. In overtime – an untimed race to the target score of 101 – Cleveland was up six, 100-94, on Emoni Bates’ dunk before having to fend off Brooklyn’s late rally.&nbsp;

All the Cavaliers who’d impressed throughout their undefeated Summer League run this past week stayed strong on Sunday.&nbsp;

The elder Mobley did a little bit of everything again in the OT victory – including notching a game-high 23 points, going 9-for-15 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the stripe, adding seven boards, five assists and a pair of blocks. Cleveland’s offense ran through the 2nd-year pro for most of the second half, and he was one of four Cavs starters with at least five assists.

“I’m a Swiss Army Knife, (I’ll play) however coaches want to use me,” said Mobley. “If it’s for defensive rebounding or playmaking or scoring or a little bit of everything, I feel like I have that the versatility to be able to do that. And just belief. I pride myself as a winner. And I try to win at everything I do.”&nbsp;

Emoni Bates has looked like the steal of the Second Round through five games in Vegas, and he’s improved as the week has progressed.&nbsp;

On Sunday, the 49th&nbsp;overall pick out of Eastern Michigan reached the 20-point plateau for the first time, tallying 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 4-of-5 from long-range, adding seven boards in the win.&nbsp;

“For me, it was just keep playing,” said Bates, who had half of Cleveland’s eight points in the extra-session. “As the game kept going on, you’re tired, but you just have to push, find the extra gear. At the end of the game, everybody’s tired, so you just have to keep pushing.”

Sam Merrill drilled another four three-pointers of his own and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the stripe – finishing with 19 points, adding five dimes and a steal. The 27-year-old sharpshooter from Utah State notched double-figure scoring in all four games he started this week.&nbsp;

Making his second Summer Leagues stint with the Cavaliers, Luke Travers once again showed off his versatility – chipping in with 11 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots, one more than Brooklyn has as a team.&nbsp;

Craig Porter has simply gotten better all week, and in his second straight start, the undrafted guard from Wichita State also chipped in from everywhere on the floor – finishing with 12 points, seven rebounds, a team-high seven assists and two blocks of his own.&nbsp;

Pete Nance led Cleveland’s reserves with eight points – going 3-of-8 from the floor, canning his only three-point attempt, adding three boards, a steal and blocked shot in 23 minutes off the bench.&nbsp;

The Cavaliers will try to win the NBA 2K24 Summer League championship on Monday night – taking on the Houston Rockets, who topped the Jazz on Sunday to join Cleveland as the only teams to wrap up the week undefeated.

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Cavs Top Nets in OT, Advance to Championship

Isaiah Mobley gets inside and scores with a floater over a defender to get the win for the Cavs and send them to the Summer League championship game.

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