Five Cavs score at least 20 in pounding of Timberwolves

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have had enough. They are tired of hearing about being soft. Instead, they thumped the rugged Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday afternoon 146-134 at Rocket Arena. "They are a physically imposing squad," Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson said. "They are a big-time team. It was a good test for us. They are a playoff team. We won the physical battle." The Cavs (22-18) had five players reach 20 or more points, led by Donovan Mitchell's game-high 28 points and eight assists. They also scored 83 points in the second half to leave the Timberwolves (25-14) in their wake. Cleveland shot a sizzling .598 from the field and .500 from the 3-point line. "We're doing better," Atkinson said. "We're trending up. We're getting there." The Cavs were particularly impressed with the 22-point, six-assist effort by point guard Darius Garland, who knocked down all seven attempts in the paint. "It seemed like he never missed that floater last year," Cleveland swingman Sam Merrill said. Garland has committed just four turnovers in the last four games. "That's huge," Atkinson said. "I always say, he's a traditional point guard who can get your 30 (points). "We're seeing more flashes from him. He's getting mismatches and obliterating them. We need him to be elite. We don't win that game without him." Forward/center Evan Mobley came alive in the second half with 16 of his 24 points. "He was in the paint a lot tonight," Atkinson said. "That's the version of what we want to see." Mobley, who finished with four rebounds (none in the first half), was 11-of-16 from the field. "We got back to playing our brand of basketball," he said. "I got to my spots and let the game come to me." Mobley challenged the 7-foot-1, 255-pound Rudy Gobert at the rim on several occasions. "They are a bigger team than us," he said. "We had to fight. I had to take what the defense gave us. I had to read and react." Garland said the Cavs need to feed Mobley. "We have to give him the rock," he said. "He's getting back to doing what he did last year. He's getting more comfortable with this role. That makes us better." Swingman Jaylon Tyson added 23 points off the bench, while Merrill contributed 20 points. The two sharpshooters combined to connect on nine of 10 attempts from long range. The Cavs outscored Minnesota 36-26 in the third quarter to take a 99-91 lead heading into the fourth. Cleveland has dropped to last in the NBA in defending the 3-point shot. In the two games against the Timberwolves, Minnesota (25-14) made 36 of 70 from long distance (.514). Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards had a team-high 25 points, while Naz Reid added 23 and Julius Randle 22. Bob Finnan can be reached at rfinnan30@gmail.com. Follow him @BobCavsinsider on X.