Unexpected Travel Issues Opened the Door for This Cavs Player Against Mavericks

None of the Cavaliers' usual starting five were playing in front of the home fans in Cleveland after the nationwide grounding of flights across the country. In their place, the team’s role players came out and got a massive 127-117 win against the Mavericks.

Meleek Thomas and Tyrese Proctor started in the backcourt alongside Jaylon Tyson, Mario Hezonja, and Thomas Bryant.

These five made the most of their time.

Cleveland went on to run a seven-man rotation, with Riley Minix and Norchad Omier coming off the bench and providing a spark.

One player, however, performed better than the rest. Sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor brought absolutely everything to the game tonight,

Tyrese Proctor (24) celebrates his three-point basket . — Nov 14, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Tyrese Proctor (24) celebrates his three-point basket in the third quarter against the Dallas Mavericks at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Scoring

He led the team with 24 points, his career high. Proctor’s only misses in this game came from the three-point range. The Australian shot 4-13 from beyond the arc.

Even more impressive is that he scored all of these points without taking a single free throw. Just straight buckets from him.

In his rookie year, he didn’t get much playing time, but he made the most of his opportunities. Going into this season, however, he has outperformed James Harden and Donovan Mitchell at times when it comes to confidence in his shot.

Alongside Proctor’s points, he also played an important role in second-chance baskets and fast-break scoring.

Tyrese Proctor:

"Just keep fighting. We're down bodies all the time. Like I said before, we're a really deep team. So, stay hungry, stay ready, and just be ready when your number is called." pic.twitter.com/kfQoYpJg2q
— RealCavsFans.com (@realcavsfans) November 15, 2026

Rebounding

11 rebounds for him as well. 11 rebounds, which tied for the team lead alongside center Thomas Bryant. Post-game, Bryant made it a point of emphasis how important the rebounding was going to be in this game.

What's even crazier is that Proctor grabbed four offensive rebounds in those 11, most on the team. Those four boards are more than the team has had in some games this season.

Cleveland would win the rebounding battle tonight, 54-40, one of the largest rebounding deficits of the season for the Cavs.

There was one more part of Proctor's game that stood out.

Playmaking

10 assists. A triple-double from him tonight. To put this into perspective, Donovan Mitchell has played a total of 622 games over 10 seasons and has never recorded a triple-double.

This was only game 63 for him before getting his first. Those 10 assists led to 23 team points; Thomas Bryant and Mario Hezonja each got three of those, and Omier and Jaylon Tyson got the other four.

With this triple-double, Proctor became the second fastest Cavalier to record a triple-double in their Cavaliers career, doing so in his 63rd game. Only John Johnson, who had the team's first-ever triple-double, did it earlier.

CLEVELAND: NEXT. MAN. UP!

With no player available averaging 25+ MPG coming into tonight, Cleveland's bench stepped up to the challenge and secured the W 🔥

Tyrese Proctor: 24p, 11r, 10a, 4 threes
Mario Hezonja: 22p, 7r, 4a
Meleek Thomas: 20p, 4r, 3 threes
Thomas Bryant: 19p,… pic.twitter.com/M6KTJU8tO9
— NBA (@NBA) November 15, 2026

What Is Next?

One thing is for sure.

With Sam Merrill out for an extended period of time, his role on this team is getting easier to replace as the season goes on, especially with Proctor's big-time jump. Harden should also keep his eyes on these kinds of performances, given his poor start to the season.

Both of these guards could be seeing their spot taken from Tyrese Proctor by the end of the year.

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