The Cleveland Cavaliers came into Saturday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks with its top six players out with injuries: two knees, two hamstrings, one calf, and one big toe.
Not the ideal way to take on a team led by Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg, but don’t tell that to Tyrese Proctor.
Proctor, a former Duke star like Irving and Flagg, had his best game since joining the league last year, racking up 24 points on 10-19 from the floor, pulling down 11 rebounds, passing out 10 assists, and leading Cleveland to a 127-117 win over the Mavs.
It was a tremendous performance by the second-year guard. Here are some complete highlights. He’ll have a tough time pushing past Donovan Mitchell when he gets back, but James Harden is 37 now, and he quit playing defense years ago.
A few more games like this, and Proctor will have an argument for putting him in the starting lineup.