Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Charlotte Hornets
Timofey Mozgov gives LeBron James five during a Cavs' win in January. Mozgov is playing the best basketball of his career with James.
(Chuck Crow)
ATLANTA -- Timofey Mozgov was whistled for a travel Wednesday night with 2:39 left in the third quarter against the Toronto Raptors.
When the two teams returned following the timeout, Mozgov was on the bench. He never came back.
Mozgov's absence from the Cavaliers' eventual 120-112 win over the Raptors is relevant for a few reasons, including this: A couple minutes after Mozgov was removed from the game, Toronto's Jonas Valanciunas tackled LeBron James around the neck.
Mozgov wasn't out there to respond.
"We'll see next time," the fiery, 7-1 Russian said today, following Cleveland's shootaround in preparation for this evening's game against the Atlanta Hawks.
Mozgov is averaging career highs in most major statistical categories since joining the Cavaliers via trade on Jan. 7. In 27 games, Cleveland's starting center and fifth-year pro is averaging 10.3 points, 7.8 rebounds (which would tie a career high), 1.6 blocks, 0.7 assists, and is shooting 58.9 percent from the field.
This season, playing for both Denver and the Cavaliers, Mozgov has been the most productive, the most efficient when paired with James.
The Cavs are 21.6 points better per 100 possessions than their opponent when James and Mozgov are on the floor together. The Cavs' overall shooting percentage and effective shooting percentage (weighted for three-pointers) are higher when James and Mozgov play together.
But since the All-Star break, Mozgov has played exactly 5:36 in the fourth quarter. Those minutes came in two games -- 1:33 on Feb. 26 against Golden State (he was removed after consecutive turnovers) and 4:03 in a blowout of the Wizards on Feb. 20.
That means Mozgov hasn't played a minute in the fourth quarter in four consecutive games for Cleveland, including two losses.
"Like every player in the NBA, I want to play," Mozgov said. "Like every guy in the NBA. But you've got to understand, you've got a team, and whoever's in, it's worked. That's all we need, right?"
There are a couple caveats with Mozgov's fourth-quarter playing time and the team's results. All the Cavs' starters sat the entire fourth quarter of a blowout win over Boston on Tuesday. And in the two losses, both were without Kyrie Irving and one was without James, too.
Yet, it is clear Cavs coach David Blatt, who coached Mozgov with the 2012 Russian Olympic team and generally sings Mozgov's praises, has gotten in a habit of going a different route in the crunch time of games.
Tristan Thompson often plays late, and James Jones has seen his playing time increase as the Cavs have gone smaller in fourth quarters. The Hawks, who own the best record (48-12) in the East, don't have a starter over 6-10.
"It's a lot of different things," Blatt said. "Just playing it the way that we see it in order to win the games and I think we've been doing it pretty well."
"Me being able to take some of the pressure on drives, attract so much eyes, it gives him some very good looks," James said. "But he has to make them. He works on his game every single day after practice and brings it to the floor."
Mozgov said that both James and Irving attract so much attention that he can't help but be open for shots. But he said there's also a leadership quality to James.
"You follow him, that's it. He makes you better," Mozgov said. "All you have to do is work hard, that's it."
James, who scored 15 of his game-high 29 points against the Raptors in the fourth quarter, said it's not hard for him to adjust to the different fourth-quarter lineups from Blatt.
But James notices that they are indeed different.
"Whatever coach decides to put on the floor, I kind of look, see who's going out there with me," James said. "I know what certain sets to run. I know how to get those guys looks and how we can be successful offensively."