Evan Mobley Addresses Mounting Problems After Cleveland's Game 3 Loss

Evan Mobley knows the situation facing the Cleveland Cavaliers is as serious as it gets. After Saturday’s 121-108 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Cleveland now sits one loss away from watching its season come to an end.

Following the game, Mobley pointed to the Cavaliers’ defensive inconsistencies, shooting struggles, and overall execution issues, while also acknowledging the physical toll of playing every other day this far into the postseason.

What’s the mindset in the locker room with your backs against the wall?

Evan: Get the next one. I mean that’s all we can do. Back’s against the wall. So I think we all just have to be better as a team defensively and then better offensively as well. There are a few things we definitely can clean up, but yeah, backs against the wall, you got to win the next one.

Are you guys still confident in the shots you’re getting offensively?

Evan: Yeah, I mean, you got to keep your confidence high. I mean, not every game you’re going to shoot the best, but you got to keep shooting them. I mean, if you’re open, you got to shoot them and shoot them with confidence. So, keeping your confidence high is key in in games like this, and moments like this. So, we got to continue that. And then yeah, we just got to be better.

When does it stop being about scheme and start being about execution?

Evan: I mean it’s it’s always that honestly. In order to get a stop you got to stop the man in front of you. And whoever’s in help side got to make efforts to make it difficult as well. yeah, it’s a team effort and yeah, we got to be better. The scheme is there but we got to find a way to actually get the stop no matter what it takes.

How much of a toll has this schedule taken on the team?

Evan: Yeah, there’s definitely a toll there, but you’re in the Eastern Conference Finals, so there’s no excuses right now. No one’s going to give you an excuse because of that. So, you got to be ready as possible. Get your treatment in for that day that you have rest and come back as ready as possible when the game time is on. So there’s no excuse there.

What did New York do to make things tougher on you as a passer tonight?

Evan: Yeah, I think they’re doing a good job being in the gaps. They’re playing the cat mouse game pretty well. I think a few times I just got too deep and they just got like a hand on it. But I think offensively as well I think we can do a better job of getting in windows and getting to our spot so it’s easier to read for everyone. And that’s just not when I have the balls when Don has the ball, James has the ball. So yeah, there's a few things we can definitely clean up there.

Where do you guys go from here?

Evan: I think we got to come together as a team. In moments like this, I mean, your backs are against the wall. So, the best thing to do is just come together as a team and fight our way out. Just take it game by game, step by step and focus on what’s in front of you.

How do you do that?

Evan: I mean, we got to talk about it. We got to see what we liked in this game, what we didn’t like, and what we liked in the previous games, and what we didn’t like, and figure that out and go from there.

What do you need to do better rebounding the missed threes and long rebounds?

Evan: I mean, you got to crash to the elbows. Those usually get you some of the long rebounds and us bigs just crashing wherever we can to try and come up with the ball. But that's like the way to get those rebounds.

Even with the missed threes, do you still have to keep shooting confidently?

Evan: Yeah, you can’t lose confidence. I mean, we’ve been working on it all year. Sometimes they don’t go in. So, I mean, next game all of them can go in. You don’t know. That’s why you got to shoot them with confidence and keep playing the right way.

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