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Evan Mobley delivers 'dominant' game that reminds Kenny Atkinson of Shaq
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- Evan Mobley delivers 'dominant' game that reminds Kenny Atkinson of Shaq
CLEVELAND — The top takeaway from the Cavaliers ' recent loss to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder was that Chet Holmgren was doing everything the Cavs needed from Evan Mobley .
It took less than a week for Mobley to deliver, at least for one night.
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The Cavs were crushed — Kenny Atkinson used the term "total domination" — by the Thunder Jan. 19. Four days later, Mobley put together arguably his best game of the entire season — the word "dominant" was used to describe it, this time in the favor of the Cavs — in Cleveland's 123-118 win over the Sacramento Kings Jan. 23 .
"Man, he was like Shaquille tonight," Atkinson said after the game, offering Mobley probably the best compliment possible for a big man in the NBA. "I mean, seriously, the way he was just rim, rim, rim, and then dominated the defensive side … that was one of the most dominant performances I've seen from him, and we needed it."
When Mobley was told about Atkinson's Shaq comparison, he cracked a smile and said, "I don't know about that, but I definitely felt dominant out there."
Offensively, Mobley finished with 29 points on 13-for-24 shooting to go with seven assists, becoming a hub of production in the paint. Defensively, he had 13 rebounds and blocked four shots, with one of them ending up several rows deep into the crowd.
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It was as complete of a game Mobley has put forth this season, and it's the type of performance the Cavs are hoping to see on a more consistent basis from a 24-year-forward who they've viewed as basically not having a ceiling for his potential.
"My goodness, if he's doing that … we are a very, very good team," said Donovan Mitchell , who finished with 33 points, five rebounds and eight assists. "He did it for 48 minutes, and that was the most amazing part that I saw tonight."
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley (4) drives to the basket against Sacramento Kings forward Precious Achiuwa (9) on Jan. 23, 2026, in Cleveland.
Evan Mobley stats
Statistically , Mobley hasn't had anywhere close to his production from last season, when was named an All-Star and the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year . Then he has games like Jan. 23 against the Kings, and the Cavaliers begin dreaming of what's possible again.
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The Cavs were reaching near-desperate levels of needing Mobley to step up his offensive production considering they're again without Darius Garland , and they're still without Max Strus .
The Cavaliers effectively need Mobley to do a little bit of everything, a list of needs that includes scoring at the rim, driving to the basket when needed, making the right decisions on offense, passing with precision if the defense breaks to him and shooting 3s to draw defenders out of the paint. That's all while also being one of the best defensive players in the league on the other end.
Atkinson was asked, in his view, what Mobley's best skill is in 2026. His answer, basically, is that there isn't one, though it was said in the most complimentary way possible.
"His biggest skill is winning," Atkinson said, borrowing a line sometimes dropped by Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman. "I love when Koby says that. Koby says it all the time. … He's one of these rare guys who comes in the league and all of a sudden affects winning."
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Another term was used: "Curse of versatility." It basically means that Mobley can do just about everything, so they ask him to do just about everything. Other players have more defined roles. For Mobley, they're essentially asking him to touch every facet of what might help them win games.
"Yeah, it's hard being a two-way player, but I think that's kind of my superpower, is that I'm able to do that and be able to contest shots on one end and still run out and be an offensive threat on the other end," Mobley said. "So I just keep building that offensive side and it's where I could be, [the] top two-way player there is."
According to Atkinson, Mobley leads the league in "jumps." That's right — the Cavs' internal data suggests that no player in the league jumps more often than Mobley. It might be a somewhat silly way to describe things, but it's an illustration of how much they're asking from him on a nightly basis. Or, if they are to advance further in the playoffs, how much they actually need from him.
"We're asking a lot of him, but that's [the case] with the great players," Atkinson said. "That's kind of what they do. … He's trying to blossom into a superstar."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavs asking Evan Mobley to do a little bit of everything
