Breaking: Cavs Evan Mobley talks about how the Celtics made his life difficult in Game 3

Cavs big man Evan Mobley felt the full brunt of the Celtics’ attack in Cleveland’s Game 3 loss.

n the NBA Playoffs, in every battle, there’s a game within a game that few notice, adjustments between either side.

In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers saw Derrick White and Jaylen Brown firing away from the perimeter. In Game 2, the Cavs adjusted and clamped down on Boston’s perimeter attack while controlling the game’s overall flow with their tough-nosed rebounding behind big man Evan Mobley, who had nearly a quarter of Cleveland’s total rebounds.

In Game 3, the Celtics challenged the Cavs on the glass, mitigating Cleveland’s strength and frustrating Mobley in a gritty home playoff loss.

“I felt like there was definitely an emphasis on their side to try and keep me off the glass,” Mobley told ClutchPoints postgame. I still try to go up and get it every single time, and sometimes, you just don’t come up with it.

“They did a good job of just tracking me through our possessions. Whenever guards shot layups, they kept trying to find me and keep me off the glass.”

Throughout this playoff run, Mobley has stepped up and become Cleveland’s second-best player on the floor since Jarrett Allen was sidelined with a nagging rib injury. While Mobley has shouldered the responsibility, the center isn’t his natural position most nights for the Cavs, and the wear and tear of having to be the total defensive anchor has been grinding him.

There was a brief scare during Game 3 where Mobley tweaked his ankle and had to work through it on the court. He shared postgame that that’s what he has to do, considering he’s Cleveland’s only heavy-minute big man remaining.

How Cavs can support Evan Mobley on the boards

So, with Boston making it their focus to limit a banged-up Mobley and Allen unlikely to return for Game 4, what can Cleveland do to support their young star? It might require a paradigm change for the Cavs’ starting lineup now that Dean Wade has returned after missing nearly two months with a bothersome knee injury.

Without Allen, Cleveland has been rolling out a starting unit of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Max Strus, and Isaac Okoro, with Mobley manning the interior. Now that Wade is back, it might be time to consider substituting him for Okoro or Strus to assist Mobley with the glass better.

Sure, Wade isn’t the most robust rebounder, and his season average of four rebounds per game won’t be felt until he’s off his minute restriction. But, with how Boston is defending Cleveland, a bigger body to help box out the Celtics and allow Mobley and other Cavs players can help keep the rebounding margin in favor of the Wine and Gold.

“It’s just a lot of switching,” said Mobley. “Last time, they put different defenders on me, and I felt like it was switching their defense up a little bit and slowing things down. So we got to get into different things when they switch like that and create different advantages.”

More importantly, subbing in Wade still gives the Cavs spacing, something they’ve been struggling with at times during the postseason. While it’s not a perfect solution, Cleveland needs to find ways to support Mobley and find balance against a Boston team that smells blood in the water.

If not, the Cavs will head on the road down 3-1, with their season on the line.