Isaiah Mobley is making the progression the Cleveland Cavaliers wanted.
Mobley scored 23 points, including the winning shot in overtime, giving the Cavaliers a 102-99 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday to advance to the NBA 2K24 Summer League championship game.
Cleveland will play the Houston Rockets, who beat the Utah Jazz 115-101 to reach Monday’s final game in Las Vegas.
With the Cavaliers needing to hit the target score of 101 in OT, Mobley went 1-on-1 and maneuvered his way into the lane, where he faked a turnaround jumper and sank a soft one-handed shot to seal the win and keep Cleveland (5-0) unbeaten in summer league play. Mobley, a second-round pick by the Cavaliers in 2022, finished 9-of-15 from the field with seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks.
Emoni Bates, this year’s second-round pick, continued his consistent play in Las Vegas with his fifth straight double-digit scoring game for Cleveland, finishing with 20 points and seven rebounds. Bates had four points in overtime.
Luke Travers added 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Cavs.
Jalen Wilson had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Nets (3-2). Armani Brooks added 22 points, and Matt Lewis chipped in with 14. Both of Brooklyn’s losses this summer were to Cleveland.
Noah Clowney, one of Brooklyn’s first-round picks, was scoreless in seven minutes while going 0-for-4 from the floor.
The Rockets (5-0) defeated a Jazz team that played without all three first-round draft picks.
Journeyman Nate Hinton, who went undrafted in 2020, led the way with 27 points for Houston, while first-round draft pick Cam Whitmore continued to shine in Las Vegas with 25 points, four rebounds and four assists. Whitmore was the 20th pick in this year’s draft.
Jermaine Samuels Jr. had 13 points and 10 assists in the win.
Keshawn Justice, Micah Potter and Colbey Ross all had 20 points for the Jazz (4-1), who fell behind early and were unable to battle back. Nick Ongenda added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Utah.
