CLEVELAND, Ohio — Prior to Wednesday night’s game, Cavs unheralded swingman Sam Merrill said he doesn’t like being in the spotlight.
Merrill better get used to it.
Behind a Merrill-led 3-point barrage, short-handed Cleveland topped the Utah Jazz, 124-116, inside Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. It’s the Cavs’ third straight win — all coming on the heels of potentially crippling news that they would be without two of their best players for a lengthy stretch.
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The injuries to point guard Darius Garland (fractured jaw) and forward Evan Mobley (knee surgery) have forced coach J.B. Bickerstaff to dig deeper into his bench.
It appears he has unearthed a sharpshooting gem.
Just 48 hours after the best night of his NBA career, Sam Merrill etched his name into the franchise record books. He poured in a career-high 27 points on 9 of 16 shooting and 8 of 14 from 3-point range in 30 incendiary minutes. Merrill tied the record for most made triples off the bench in team history, joining Kevin Love, Ricky Rubio, CJ Miles and Kyle Korver.
With textbook mechanics, a rapid release and exemplary footwork, Merrill looked a bit like a young Korver, one of the many players Merrill, who grew up in Utah, used to watch.
Making Merrill’s night even sweeter: He did against the team he rooted for as a young kid.
“It’s always different when we’re playing them and I’m walking by their locker room and it says Utah Jazz and just how much I liked them,” Merrill explained. “To be able to have a game like that against them is even more special for sure.”
Merrill wasn’t the only one who blistered the nets on Wednesday — a night when Cleveland didn’t have leading scorer Donovan Mitchell because of an illness, with Mitchell missing a chance to play against his old team.
Sixth man Caris LeVert chipped in with 23 points off the bench on 6 of 15 shooting and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc. Sniper Max Strus added 18 points on 6 of 15 from the field and 6 of 12 on 3s. Georges Niang, who spent the formative years of his NBA career in Utah, tallied 15 points, going 3 of 10 from long range.
In all, the Cavs drilled a season-high 23 3s. They shot 45.1% from 3-point range. They got an atypical 75 points from the bench quartet — Merrill, Niang, Craig Porter Jr. (6) who made his second career start in place of Mitchell, and veteran Tristan Thompson (10). The team dished out 34 assists on 45 made shots. Only had 12 turnovers.
“When your back is against the wall and you’re down bodies, the only way you come out on top is if you do it together,” Bickerstaff said. “I thought our guys have done a phenomenal job of just picking up the slack. It speaks to the character of these guys and their willingness to sacrifice for the greater good.”
After Cleveland led for most of the first half, the Jazz rallied out of the locker room, grabbing the lead with 7:47 remaining in the third quarter — their first advantage since the 9:29 mark of the first quarter. After that point, it stayed within one possession for the remainder of the quarter. But then Cleveland opened the fourth with an avalanche of 3-pointers, burying Utah beneath a 12-0 run and reclaiming control. Merrill made two in that stretch.
“This is what the NBA is about. It’s about making dreams come true,” Bickerstaff said of Merrill. “He’s worked his tail off, and he’s definitely making his dream come true.”
Former Cavalier Lauri Markkanen, part of the massive package sent to the Jazz in the Mitchell blockbuster last September, scored a Utah-high 26 points. Collin Sexton, also included in the Mitchell deal, chipped in with 20 points. Talen Horton-Tucker finished with 19 points and 11 assists.
When the news about Garland and Mobley broke, Bickerstaff and players spoke about needing a collective effort. That’s been the case over the last few games.
But Wednesday belonged to Merrill, the early-season forgotten man who received a standing ovation from the remaining fans after the buzzer sounded.
It was his night. His moment. Cleveland will always appreciate an underdog story.
The Cavs will wrap up their four-game homestand with a matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m.
