CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs knew coming into Friday’s contest that they couldn’t play down to their opponent.
Sacramento’s record said 12 wins in 45 games. Cleveland’s recent history said that number didn’t matter nearly as much as it should have. Too often, the Cavs have allowed teams beneath them to hang around in games.
Not Friday night. The hometown team walked away with a 123-118 victory. Was it closer than many might’ve liked? Sure. But it still sent the Cleveland faithful into the weekend with an exhilarating win.
In the opening minutes, Cleveland played as if it understood what needed to be done.
The Cavs suffocated the Kings out of the gate, allowing just two points over nearly the first four minutes while scoring 16 of their own.
Sacramento struggled to organize a possession that didn’t feel rushed. The imbalance was so stark that Kings head coach Doug Christie abandoned his starting group almost instantly, summoning his second unit in an attempt to stabilize the night before it slipped completely away.
That move worked — largely because of two familiar problems Cleveland has wrestled with all season: dribble penetration and decision-making hubs.
Dennis Schroder changed the tone with the ball in his hands. He consistently collapsed Cleveland’s defense by turning the corner, forcing help to commit and then choosing between his own scoring chances or easy kick-outs once the Cavs’ weakside defenders rotated. When the advantage was clear, Schroder took it himself, piling up 17 first-half points by living in the seams of Cleveland’s coverage. But the Cavs held him to just seven points over the final two quarters.
Domantas Sabonis complicated matters in a more deliberate way.
Still easing his way back from a lingering left knee injury, Sabonis nevertheless bent the floor with his screening, timing and feel. From the top of the key and the elbow, he weaponized dribble handoffs, manipulating matchups and forcing the Cavs to choose between containing interior pressure or staying attached to shooters. His passing punished indecision, and even when the assist didn’t come, his gravity alone altered spacing and awareness.
By halftime, Sabonis sat at 14 points, six rebounds and five assists — already flirting with a triple-double and fully restoring rhythm to a Kings offense that looked far more connected with him orchestrating possessions. He finished with 24 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
“I have nightmare memories of him in the playoffs when we played him with Golden State,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Sabonis pregame. “He’s just a great facilitator, great, great screener, right? So it changes in that sense. It’s all the DHO stuff. He’s arguably the best DHO player, him and Bam, in the league. They know how to DHO and then screen, so their physicality goes up with him, and then he can get you downhill and he’s a physical finisher, excellent player.
“With him, it’s a little different when he gets the ball at the top of the key there, you really got to get to their shooters. If you try to collapse on Sabonis, he’ll come off and just pitch a guy to get a wide-open three. So I’m pretty familiar with his game but definitely gives them a big boost to him being back in the lineup.”
Still, knowing what’s coming and stopping it are two different things. The Cavs have been the worst 3-point defense thus far into the season and again saw the Kings take advantage they finished with 13 triples on 39.4% from beyond the arc.
Cleveland, meanwhile, relied heavily on its stars to maintain control. Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley combined for 37 of the Cavs’ 68 first-half points, carrying an offense that often stalled when they sat.
The bench units, so frequently praised this season for their energy and resilience, struggled to hold the line. Nae’Qwan Tomlin posted a minus-19 in the first half, De’Andre Hunter a minus-17 and Craig Porter Jr. a minus-16. Against a 12-win team, it was a reminder that effort alone doesn’t _always_ translate to stability.
The second half, though, belonged to Mobley.
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His aggression never softened. His touch didn’t fade. And Cleveland needed every bit of it.
With Sabonis off the floor, Mobley leaned into his advantages decisively. He attacked off the dribble, used his improved passing for quick give-and-go actions that cracked Sacramento’s interior defense and punished any defender with hook shots when he established position in his preferred spots. More than the individual moves, it was the force behind them that mattered. Mobley played taller, stronger and more assertive, dictating terms rather than reacting to them.
“You want to be physical with him and move him off his spots because he wants to get to certain spots on the floor,” Christie said pregame. “He’s become pretty proficient at that as we watched him grow from USC. So it’s the physicality more than anything and trying to push him off of his spots. And you’ll be surprised. You push a guy off his spot two or three feet, it makes him uncomfortable. As opposed to if you let them roam around and find where they want to get to and you allow him to be comfortable.
“He’s not the type of player that you want to be comfortable because if he gets off to a good start, it’ll be a long night.”
Sacramento tried to make Mobley uncomfortable. And in an area he’s struggled at times this season, he didn’t relent.
The game turned rugged on both ends as defensive schemes tightened and bodies collided more frequently, but Mobley maintained his rhythm. He stayed balanced. He stayed decisive. And that consistency tilted the night. He finished with 29 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks.
Cleveland poured in 34 points in the third quarter while holding the Kings to 22, building a nine-point lead that felt heavier than the scoreboard suggested.
And even as Sacramento crept back into the contest in the final frame, cutting Cleveland’s lead to one on multiple occasions, the Cavs stayed in control.
Sabonis and Mobley went head-to-head as both bigs were the offensive hubs for their teams, but when Mobley needed them most, the supporting cast of Mitchell, Allen and Tyson showed up offensively to close it out.
It didn’t have to be pretty from start to finish for Cleveland because the energy, effort and intensity were there throughout. Then the talent took over when they needed it most.
**Next**
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The Cavs travel to Orlando for the second night of a back-to-back against the struggling Magic on Saturday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. Eastern.