How Evan Mobley dealt with his increased role against Raptors

Evan Mobley’s role with the Cleveland Cavaliers at the moment looks to be focused on him.

For a player who prides himself on being a defensive-minded player first, he has certainly had to adjust in the last week, and his offseason work has been centred around his offensive game.

Mobley led the Cavs with 29 points on Halloween night against the Raptors, pulling down eight rebounds and getting three steals in the loss.

“That was a big focus this game because I knew they were probably going to swarm and come on my drives,” Mobley explained to reporters when asked about finding the balance on being that main offensive threat and trusting his teammates.

“But I feel like I did a good job of kicking out early in the right plays and making the right decisions overall, most of the time.

"There are a few in there that I definitely could have made some different decisions, but overall, I feel like I did a pretty good job of that.”

There were a lot of positives in the Cavs’ performance, given the circumstances. Led by Mobley, Cleveland was aggressive in the third quarter, getting decent looks at the basket and scoring on those drives as they exploited Toronto’s defensive weaknesses.

DPOY HAS GOT HANDLES.@evanmobley | #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/CznrAPiTSb
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 1, 2025

Mobley, in particular, was ruthless, playing to his strengths, which allowed him to be more confident.

He finished 11-for-17 from the field in an impressive showing on a night when he knew he would be playing the lead.

“I was just playing the game,” Mobley said.

“I still have more opportunities to get downhill in the second half, and I took them.

“First half, I felt like they were way more loaded up on me and didn't see too many opportunities for that. So, I was just playing the game.”

Part of the third-quarter burst was the pace of the game that the Cavs dictated—almost reverting to how they played last season. Up-tempo, transition basketball.

Mobley admitted that Cleveland’s energy came from one guy before it faded in the latter stages of the game, where the Raptors made their game-changing run that sealed matters.

“I think it was the pace,” Mobley said.

“I think Lonzo [Ball] brought a great pace for us, and everyone just followed. We were moving the ball at a high rate and getting into the next action very quickly.

“In the fourth at the very end, it kind of got a little stagnant with some of the motion and stuff that we had going on earlier.”