Cleveland Cavaliers’ Isaiah Mobley, center, shoots against Houston Rockets’ Darius Days, left, and Nate Hinton during the first half of a NBA summer league championship basketball game Monday, July 17, 2023, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
LAS VEGAS — Isaiah Mobley had 28 points and 11 rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers captured the NBA Summer League championship with a 99-78 victory Monday over the Houston Rockets.
This was the Cavaliers’ first title since the Summer League went to a tournament format in 2013. Mobley was voted game MVP.
Sam Merrill scored 27 points, making 6 of 12 3-pointers, and Emoni Bates added 19 points for the Cavaliers (6-0).
Nate Hinton led Houston (5-1) with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Three other Rockets also scored in double figures: Cam Whitmore (14), Trevor Hudgins (13) and Fletcher Magee (10).
Mobley, a second-round pick in 2022, finished strong in Summer League. He put the Cavaliers in the title game by scoring 23 points and making the winning shot in overtime to beat the Brooklyn Nets 102-99 on Sunday.
The #NBA2KSummerLeague Finals MVP 👀
Isaiah Mobley SHINES as Cleveland goes undefeated in Vegas 💨
28 PTS, 11 REB, 3 AST, 2 BLK 🏆 pic.twitter.com/0zgR5oNz9a
— NBA (@NBA) July 18, 2023
Merrill has a history of playing well at the Thomas & Mack Center. His 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds left gave Utah State the 2020 Mountain West tournament championship, one of the last shots in college basketball before the COVID-19 shutdown.
On Monday, the Cavaliers asserted control early by running out to a 17-4 lead. Houston went on a 19-4 run to cut the margin to 41-38 late in the first half.
But then Cleveland scored the first 11 points of the second half to take a 62-44 lead, and the outcome was never seriously in doubt after that.