Evan Mobley knows what he has to do to make partnership with James Harden work

INDEPENDENCE — James Harden’s ability to make each of his new teammates better in different ways has stood out in the first nine games with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The instant chemistry he’s developed with Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Sam Merrill has been easy to see. Evan Mobley is looking to be the next Cavalier to benefit from playing alongside the all-time great guard.

“He’s not scared to take risks,” Mobley said about playing alongside Harden after practice on Saturday. “There’s a lot of benefits with how he just controls the game.”

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Mobley hasn’t had the same time to develop chemistry with Harden. He missed Harden’s first few games with the team due to a calf strain. As such, they’ve played in just five games and 99 minutes together, but the results have been impressive.

Cleveland has been good on both ends of the court when Harden and Mobley share the floor. They’re scoring 118.4 points per 100 possessions (76th percentile for offensive ratings) and allowing 102.3 points per 100 possessions (99th percentile for a defensive rating) when both are playing. These lineups have outscored opponents by 16 points per 100 possessions, which is in the 98th percentile for net rating.

It’s a much smaller sample size when Mobley is the only center on the court (just 57 possessions). Groups with Harden and Mobley, but without Allen, have been better offensively as they’ve posted a 122.8 offensive rating (95th percentile). The defense hasn’t been as good as they’ve had a 120 defensive rating (20th percentile) and just a +2.8 net rating (65th percentile). It’s worth noting that the Cavs have been without Dean Wade in most of these lineup configurations, which likely hurts how they’ve performed defensively.

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Lineups with Mobley as the only big alongside Harden will likely get tested on Sunday against the Boston Celtics. Allen may not be able to go as he’s…

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Publish date : 2026-03-07 19:44:00

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