Sam Merrill is like that LED flashlight someone might keep in an easily accessible place in case the power goes out; hit the switch when he enters the game as a sub, and he’s ready to light up the basketball court.
Merrill had the best game of his young career Dec. 20 when the Cavaliers beat the Jazz, 124-116.
The Cavs have been without guard Darius Garland (fractured jaw) and Evan Mobley (knee surgery) since last week. Donovan Mitchell was a game-time scratch because he is ill.
Sam Merrill scored 27 points for the #Cavaliers on Wednesday night – a career best. Here he is reflecting on his special night. He drained 8 3s pic.twitter.com/f2QK6lB7Iw
— Jeff Schudel (@jsproinsider) December 21, 2023
The injuries meant the Cavs had to rely on 3-point shooting. They set a season high with 51 3-point attempts — 14 by Merrill. He made eight 3s and scored a career-best 27 points. He scored a career-best 19 points on Dec. 18 when the Cavs beat the Rockets, 135-130, at the FieldHouse.
“This speaks to the work he puts in every single day,” Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said after the Cavs won their third straight game. “It isn’t something that just happened overnight.
“This is what the NBA is about. It’s about making dreams come true. He’s definitely making his dream come true.”
Merrill will get another chance for a personal record Dec. 21 when the Cavs host the Pelicans.
• Bickerstaff in his pregame news conference had high praise for Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen. The 7-footer from Finland was with the Cavaliers for only the 2021-22 season, but that was the year that started the turnaround for the Cavs, and Markkanen was a big part of it.
“To be frank, Lauri allowed us to kind of change the game of basketball,” Bickerstaff said. “We went back to the big lineup, which a lot of people weren’t playing at the time. We were allowed to play him at (small forward) with Evan (Mobley) and Jarrett (Allen) on the floor. To have three 7-footers out there made us something tough to deal with.”
Markkanen was traded to the Jazz in September 2022 along with Collin Sexton, rookie guard Ochai Agbaji, first-round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029 plus pick swaps in 2026 and 2028 for Mitchell.
Markkanen has continued to have individual success with the Jazz. He is averaging 23.2 points and 8.5 rebounds a game.
“We would put him on point guards just to switch things,” Bickerstaff said. “He accepted all the challenges. He wouldn’t say ‘No,’ to any assignment. He was a big part in us taking a step, and I think he’ll do the same for Utah long-term.”
The Cavs acquired Markkanen, a restricted free agent at the time, from the Bulls in a three-team trade in August 2021. The Cavs sent Larry Nance Jr. to the Trail Blazers and a second-round pick to the Nuggets. The Markkanen trade was made after the Cavs drafted Mobley earlier in the summer.
The Cavs were 22-50 the season before acquiring Markkanen (teams played only 72 games because of COVID in 2020-21). They were 44-38 in his only season in Cleveland.
Individual success for Markkanen, an All-Star last season, has not transformed to team success for the Jazz. They finished 12th in the West last season at 37-45. They sit 12th in the conference this year at 10-18.
• Cavaliers fans don’t forget. It will be nine years this spring since Kelly Olynyk, playing for the Celtics, grabbed the arm of Kevin Love and basically pulled it out of Love’s shoulder socket in the first round of the playoffs.
The injury shut down Love for the rest of the 2015 postseason. Despite the injury, the Cavs advanced to the NBA Finals where they lost to the Warriors in six games. The series might have ended differently had Love been healthy. Cavs fans certainly think so.
Olynyk has played for the Heat, Rockets, Pistons and now the Jazz since his time in Boston. He is booed loudly every time he plays in Cleveland. The Dec. 20 game was more of the same. He was booed when he entered the game as a substitute and every time he touched the ball.
