TEMPE, ARIZONA – MARCH 14: Logan Gilbert #36 of the Seattle Mariners pitches during the Spring Training game against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium on March 14, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After the shortest off-season, the Mariners are back in action tonight, playing games that actually count. That means we here at LL are also back with our daily trio(+) of stories about the day’s game: a game preview with starting lineups and all the info you need to know pregame as well as an open game thread to discuss the game as it unfolds, a chart highlighting the turning points of the game published immediately postgame, and a recap of how the game went down. We’ll do this for all 162 games this season, and we’d love to have you along for the ride, so if you haven’t yet signed up, please consider doing so! Instructions for doing so are at the bottom of the page.
In case you’ve been hurrying through the work day to try to get to tonight’s game, or have been traveling to the game from far away and missed all the work on the site today, allow me to briefly run down some of our Opening Day site traditions:
Cole Young and Leo Rivas make their first-ever Opening Day starts. Cole Young says his mother will be in attendance for the game from Florida: “She’s definitely gonna cry.”
Injury Updates:
Jerry Dipoto was on Bump and Stacy on 710 today and said Bryce Miller has been feeling good in his bullpens in Arizona and is on track to throw a “game bullpen” soon; his timeline is currently tracking towards a return at the end of April. J.P. Crawford is currently playing in minor-league games in Arizona, still DHing mostly but slated to return to shortstop as soon as today. Per Dipoto, he could be back at the earliest by the end of this homestand, but a more likely return is when the team heads out on their first roadtrip of the season.
Game Information:
Game time: 7:10 PT
Note: Mariners intros will start at 6:38. Cal Raleigh will also be receiving his 2025 Silver Slugger award in a special pregame ceremony.
TV: Mariners TV with Aaron Goldsmith, Ryan Rowland-Smith, and Angie Mentink as the field reporter.
For more on how to watch the Mariners on TV, this article might be helpful.
Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports with Rick Rizzs, marking his final Opening Day as the team’s full-time broadcaster, and Gary Hill Jr.
Note: Tomorrow’s game is on Apple TV exclusively, so make a plan for how to watch if you don’t have Apple TV (a free three-month trial will cover you through the two games the Mariners are scheduled to be on Apple TV, fyi). Sunday’s game will air exclusively on Peacock.
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran has banned its sports teams from traveling to countries it considers “hostile,” Iranian state TV reported Thursday ahead of Tractor FC’s scheduled soccer game in Saudi Arabia.
The ban announced by Iran’s Ministry of Sports in Tehran didn’t mention the World Cup which starts June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The ministry’s statement singled out the Tractor game against Shabab Al Ahli of Dubai that was set to be played in Saudi Arabia. It’s a playoff game in the Asian Champions League Elite.
“The presence of national and club teams in countries that are considered hostile and are unable to ensure the security of Iranian athletes and team members is prohibited until further notice,” it said.
Tractor’s playoff game in Saudi Arabia was the result of the Asian Football Confederation’s draw Wednesday to determine the quarterfinal pairings, a day after announcing that the western zone playoffs that were postponed because of the war in the Middle East have been rescheduled for April 13-14 in Jeddah.
The Saudi city is also slated to host the tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and final from April 16-25, with organizers setting the dates and hoping for peace in the region.
The Iranian ministry added that the soccer federation and clubs “will be responsible for notifying the Asian Football Confederation of this matter in order to relocate the games.”
Iran’s stance on the World Cup
The Iranian ambassador in Mexico City has said the country was negotiating with FIFA to move Iran’s three group-stage matches from the United States to Mexico after U.S. President Donald Trump discouraged the team from attending the 48-nation tournament, citing safety concerns.
Last week, however, FIFA President Gianni Infantino further dampened Iran’s attempts to move its World Cup matches, saying global soccer’s governing body wants the tournament “to go ahead as scheduled.”
Iranian government and soccer officials have said they do not want to boycott the World Cup but that it is not possible for the national team to come to the U.S. because of military attacks on the country by Israel and U.S. since Feb. 28.
FORT MYERS, FL – FEBRUARY 22: Spencer Miles #62 of the Toronto Blue Jays pitches during the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Boston Red Sox at JetBlue Park at Fenway South on Sunday, February 22, 2026 in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Kathryn Skeean/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Much has been made this preseason about Daniel Susac winning the backup catcher role for the San Francisco Giants. Susac, a northern California native whose older brother, Andrew, won a World Series as Buster Posey’s backup, entered camp as the presumptive favorite due to his Rule 5 status. As a Rule 5 selection, Susac needs to stay on the active roster for the entirety of the year, and cannot be optioned. If the Giants wish to move him off the active roster for any reason other than an injury, he’ll be returned to the Athletics system.
Susac did, indeed, win the job, beating out veteran Eric Haase and contact-maven prospect Jesús Rodríguez. He’ll be the backup catcher for the foreseeable future, and the Giants will surely hope that he can hang onto the role all year, and stay in the system.
But while Susac got the bulk of the attention, he wasn’t the only Rule 5 pick whose fate impacts the Giants. You might remember that San Francisco lost a pair of right-handed pitchers in the Major League portion of the December draft, Spencer Miles and Ryan Watson.
And both of those players made their respective teams’ Opening Day rosters, meaning they won’t be returned to the Giants … not yet, at least.
With respect to Watson, Miles is the notable name of the pair, and was taken by the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays. A fourth-round pick in 2022 out of Missouri, talent has never been an issue for Miles … but health has. He pitched 7.1 innings in ‘22 after getting drafted, but missed the entirety of the 2023 season. He pitched 7.1 more innings in 2024 — all at the Complex League — but lost all of 2025. As such, the 25-year old has just 14.2 innings of professional baseball to his name, and none above Low-A. But a fantastic showing in the Arizona Fall League — with mesmerizing metrics to back it up — earned him a look from the Blue Jays.
He ran with it in the spring, striking out 11 batters in 9.2 innings, with a 3.72 ERA. It came down to the wire, but he made the Opening Day roster, and now will become the rare player to appear in the Majors before playing in AAA, AA, or even High-A.
But that’s only the first step. There were warning flags in Miles’ performance: he walked five batters, hit another, and ceded a pair of home runs. And he’s joining a Blue Jays roster that has four pitchers on the 15-Day Injured List, plus another on the 60-Day IL. Making the roster was one thing; sticking on it will be another one entirely.
As for Watson, he was taken by the Athletics and traded to the Boston Red Sox. The 28-year old has had a long career as he prepares for his Major League debut: he was drafted out of high school in the 39th round in 2016 by the Los Angeles Dodgers, but didn’t sign. He chose instead to play at Auburn, and went undrafted in the pandemic-shortened 2020 draft, but signed with the Baltimore Orioles. They traded him to the Giants for cash considerations in late 2024.
Watson didn’t pitch particularly well for the Red Sox this spring, with a 5.56 ERA, a 4.62 FIP, and just seven strikeouts in 11.1 innings. But he impressed his new coaching staff, and gets the excitement of joining a Major League roster.
Miles and Watson will be worth paying attention to in the coming days, weeks, and months. Should the Blue Jays or Red Sox decide they don’t want to keep them, they’ll be placed on waivers. Any team that claims the relievers will have to abide by the same Rule 5 restrictions. If they clear waivers, they’ll be returned to the Giants for a small fee, and they’ll head back to the Minor Leagues, without taking a spot on the 40-man roster.
The Giants were heavily involved in the Rule 5 draft this year, as Miles, Watson, and Susac represent three of the just 13 players who were taken. As for the other 10 (all pitchers), six made the Opening Day roster for their new teams, while three were returned to their original organization. One, RJ Petit of the Colorado Rockies, will open the year on the Injured List.
Dodgers executive Stan Kasten, Uniqlo chairman Tadashi Yanai, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and team owner Mark Walter. (Beth Harris / Associated Press)
On their way into the clubhouse Thursday, Dodgers players were greeted by the World Series championship trophies they won in 2024 and 2025. In center field, Dodgers fans were greeted by oversize replicas of those trophies, the better for taking a selfie.
On social media, the Dodgers unveiled their Opening Day hype video. These were the first words: “What’s wrong with being the bad guy?” At Dodger Stadium, the threepeat hype video was a movie trailer with this tag line: “Great sequels build legendary trilogies.”
To the rest of that country, all that winning and all that spending makes the Dodgers the bad guys. For more than a year, the owners of other major league teams have telegraphed their desire to restrain all that spending, preferably through a salary cap.
How does the owner of the Dodgers feel?
Does baseball truly have a problem?
Sit down, Dodgers fans. You might expect the owner of the Colorado Rockies to say that revenue disparity among teams is so great that competitive balance has been destroyed, and he did.
You might not expect Dodgers owner Mark Walter to say this:
”Here’s what the problem is: Money helps us win. We can’t win all the time. We’ve got to have some parity,” Walter told me.
“So we’ve got to come up with something that will give us some parity.”
Don’t take this the wrong way: Walter will always want to win. But the owners, Walter included, are increasingly united in the belief that revenue disparity is the primary explanation why a small-market team has not won the World Series in 11 years.
The Dodgers are making more money from Uniqlo in naming rights this season than some teams are making from local television rights and the Dodgers also are making 10 times as much on their SportsNet LA deal.
The Dodgers generated an estimated $850 million in revenue last season, according to Forbes. Their opening day opponent, the Arizona Diamondbacks, generated an estimated $324 million.
If Walter were to support the pursuit of a salary cap, the owners’ vote could be unanimous. For now, negotiations with the players’ union have not started. There is no formal owners’ proposal on the table, so there is nothing for Walter to approve or reject.
“We’ll have to see what it is,” Walter said.
The players’ union does not dispute the revenue disparity. The union believes the owners should solve that issue among themselves, by sharing more revenue and adding incentives for lower-revenue teams that win. The union also believes “competitive balance” is a fig leaf for “cost control that increases owner profits.”
In the NFL, which has a salary cap, either the Kansas City Chiefs or the New England Patriots has played in the AFC championship in each of the last 15 years.
And, even if the Dodgers are the bad guys, they are not bad for business. The Dodgers hold five of the top 12 spots on baseball’s list of best-selling jerseys: Shohei Ohtani at No. 1, Yoshinobu Yamamoto at No. 2, Mookie Betts at No. 5, Freddie Freeman at No. 7 and Kiké Hernandez at No. 12.
The last two World Series, in which the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, juiced television ratings across the country and around the world. The World Baseball Classic dominated headlines and social media content at what is usually a sleepy time for baseball.
All of that momentum would be at risk if owners shut down the sport in “salary cap or bust” collective bargaining, crossing their fingers that players would surrender as soon as they started missing paychecks next spring.
It is against that backdrop that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts encouraged fans to appreciate this season opener. With potential armageddon looming in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, who knows when the next season might actually open?
“I understand that,” Roberts said Thursday, “in the sense of, this is where the CBA is at, as far as the expiration. And I do agree: Enjoy it, because nothing is guaranteed. It’s going to be a great year and I hope everyone pours their spirits and their joy into this season, because it’s going to be a great one. We’ll just figure out where it goes after that.”
And, if it goes haywire after that, the Dodgers inevitably will be blamed.
“That,” Roberts said with a laugh, “seems like it’s always been the case recently.”
What would Walter tell Dodgers fans concerned that what might be in the best interest of baseball might not be in the best interest of the Dodgers?
“I don’t want to hurt us,” Walter said. “We’ll be fine.”
ATLANTA (AP) — Texas junior Rex Maurer defended his title in the 400-yard individual medley at the NCAA swimming and diving championships, and the Longhorns held the team lead after Day 2 on Thursday.
Texas has 215.5 points, followed by Florida with 205 and Arizona State 133.5.
Josh Liendo won the 100 butterfly for Florida in a NCAA record time of 42.49, just passing Texas’ Hubert Kos on the final stroke. Kos matched Liendo’s record set in the prelims at 42.54. Arizona State’s Ilya Kharun also broke the 43-second mark.
Virginia freshman Maximus Williamson won the 200 freestyle from lane eight in 1:30.03. In the prelims, Williamson tied his teammate David King for the final spot in the final and King ceded the spot.
California sophomore Yamato Okadome out-touched two Texas swimmers to win the 100-yard breaststroke in 49.90. Longhorns Campbell McKean and Nate Germonprez came in second and third, respectively.
SMU sophomore Luke Sitz claimed the one-meter diving title.
Day 3 of the four-day event continues on Friday with the 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 500 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay and three-meter diving.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm has sued his parents for millions of dollars, accusing them of siphoning large amounts of his money into financial accounts they managed for him and then using some of the cash to pay their own expenses.
Bohm’s lawsuit, filed Wednesday in a Philadelphia court, comes after he began to review his personal and financial affairs in recent months, and said that his parents refused to give him access to the accounts or provide him with the information he sought about them.
They sought to “freeze” him out of four accounts — established as limited liability companies — and he now believes they “converted a sizeable amount” of his money from those accounts “to their own use,” the lawsuit said.
By the time he sought the information, his parents had already transferred millions of dollars from his personal accounts to the accounts they controlled, the lawsuit said.
Bohm’s parents, Daniel and Lisa Bohm, denied doing anything wrong and, through their lawyer, said they are “deeply saddened by the allegations” and will aggressively defend themselves. Alec Bohm has had full access to the accounts and his parents are paying his expenses on their personal credit cards, their lawyer, Robert Eckard, said in a statement.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bohm love their son very much and have always acted in his best interests, both personally and professionally, and still do so to this day,” Eckard said.
After Thursday’s 2026 season opening game, Bohm declined comment to reporters, saying “I’m not going to address any personal matters right now.”
Both parties say the first of the accounts was opened in 2019. His parents told him that they assigned themselves a 10% stake, strictly for administration purposes, and that Bohm was the “true” owner of all of the LLC’s assets, Bohm’s lawsuit said.
The accounts had various purposes, such as investing in securities or buying real estate. Bohm’s lawsuit also said they used money from The Alec Bohm Foundation to pay their expenses.
Bohm’s lawsuit asks his parents to pay at least $3 million in damages, hand over control of the accounts and hire an accountant to track every dollar they transferred from Bohm’s personal accounts to the accounts they controlled.
Bohm, 29, has a $10.2 million contract with the Phillies for the 2026 baseball season. The lawsuit said his parents live in a recreational vehicle and travel the country.
Carlos Mendoza called Luis Robert Jr.’s 10-pitch walk the biggest at-bat in what turned out to be the Mets’ rather stunning first-inning takedown of Paul Skenes, the best and most imposing pitcher in the National League.
And afterward, the manager was practically giggling as he tried to explain it.
“I mean, historically he’s been chaser, right?” Mendoza said. “We know he’s going to chase. But then you watch that at-bat. For him to lay off that 3-2 breaking ball…for me, that whole inning was about that Luis Robert at-bat.”
As it turned out, Robert Jr.’s unexpected plate discipline loaded the bases and set the table for the Brett Baty triple – albeit, thanks to a misplay by Oneil Cruz – that led to Skenes’ first-inning knockout and eventually a feel-good 11-7 Opening Day win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.
It was a win that featured the Mets’ new-look offense that prioritizes making contact, the deliberate result of David Stearns desire to, as he said during spring training, “have more competitive at-bats 1-through-9” in the lineup.
The first-day results say the plan could work wonders for an offense that has been too feast-or-famine in recent years, and way too inconsistent with runners in scoring position.
Yet not even the Stearns would have dreamed of his team giving Skenes the earliest knockout of his career. And though the NL Cy Young winner’s defense was partly to blame, tough at-bats by the Mets’ hitters led to long counts that pushed his pitch count to 37, at which point Pirates’ manager Don Kelly decided not to push his young superstar too far on Opening Day.
“He was missing arm side and he was trying to make us chase,” said Mendoza. “We controlled the strike zone. We executed the game plan. We were going to make him come to us – and be aggressive if we get pitches to hit.”
From the offseason blueprint to the ballfield. At least on Day One.
Yet the weird part is Robert Jr. wasn’t really part of that blueprint. The Mets gambled on him in a trade with the Chicago White Sox, willing to take on his $20 million salary this season, because of his elite athleticism, both as a center fielder and a hitter, and the hope that he could stay healthy and deliver on the hit tool that still makes scouts drool.
But suffice it to say, nobody ever accused Robert Jr. of being a grinder at the plate.
Indeed, as Mendoza referenced, Robert Jr. has been the definition of a chaser throughout his career. Even during his All-Star season in 2023, when he hit .264 with 38 home runs, he had a whopping 172 strikeouts and ranked in the bottom third percentile among all hitters in chasing pitches out of the strike zone, according to MLB Statcast.
One year earlier, in 2022, he ranked in the bottom one percent. The very bottom. By 2025, he’d improved a bit but still ranked in the bottom 20th percentile, which means that, at least statistically, Robert should have had little to no chance of winning an at-bat like the one against Skenes on Thursday, from falling behind 1-2 in the count to working out such a consequential walk.
Or as a scout I reached out to after the Mets’ win said:
“At 1-2, I thought there was a 90 percent chance Skenes would strike him out. Then, honestly, as he was fouling off tough pitches and taking sliders off the plate, I almost couldn’t believe it was the same guy I watched in Chicago.”
So then logic would tell you the 10-pitch walk was just some sort of happy accident for the Mets.
To that point, according to Sports Info Solutions, the 10-pitch walk was tied for Robert’s longest at-bat in his last three seasons, along with one in 2025 against Taijuan Walker, who, no offense, is hardly Paul Skenes.
Ok, but what if this is some new-and-improved version of Robert Jr.? He did go 2-for-4 in addition to the walk on Thursday, even if one of his two singles was a slow roller in the infield.
More significantly, Robert Jr. is still only 28, after all, and theoretically younger than that, baseball-wise, considering all the time he’s missed due to injuries during his career, only once playing more than 110 games in a season.
In addition, there has been much speculation from people around baseball, even going back to last season when the Mets were interested in him at the trade deadline, that he’d been worn down by years of losing with the White Sox and even somewhat undeveloped in an organization considered lacking in modern analytics/technology.
Stearns himself said after trading for him, “We’ve all seen it before. Sometimes guys just need a change of scenery to bring out the best him.” Here’s how the scout translated that quote when I read it to him Thursday:
“That’s a nice way of saying he thinks the White Sox weren’t equipped to get the most out of Robert’s talent,” he said. “And he might be right about that. We’re talking mostly about one at-bat against a great pitcher but it’s something that you wouldn’t think was possible unless the guy has taken to whatever the Mets may have been working with him on this spring.”
Mendoza, for one, wants to believe that such work in spring training is already beginning to pay dividends.
“I give credit to him and the coaches,” said the manager. “Behind the scenes, they were working with him on laying off tough pitches and doing damage with the pitches he can handle. I think you saw some of that in that walk.”
It opened some eyes among his teammates as well.
“That was super impressive,” Bo Bichette said. “To get to 1-2 against a guy like that, and then work the count to 3-2, that’s not easy to do. Then to lay off a slider on 3-2…you’ve got 100 (mph) in the back of your mind, and you also want to drive in a run there…to wind up taking the walk is so impressive.”
So if it’s more than a happy accident, well, Robert could be an X-factor that gives the Mets a significant power dimension in the No. 5 spot, in addition to the contact, plate discipline, and consistency in RBI spots they want to be their identity.
“We know how talented he is,” was the way Mendoza put it. “We know what that could mean for us.”
To which the scout added: “Keeping him off the injured list is a big part of it, but if the Mets get a better version of Robert, especially with his approach and discipline, that could be a deep and dangerous lineup.”
At least for one day, a first-inning TKO of the best pitcher in the National League was proof of that.
Mar 26, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) hits a solo home run for his first major league hit during his major league debut in the third inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Busch Stadium was an exciting place to be today as the St. Louis Cardinals opened up the 2026 season against the Tampa Bay Rays. The parade of St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Famers, the proud Budweiser Clydesdales and a stadium packed with plenty of fans wearing red. The game had plenty of highlights and it was a close game until the sixth inning when the Rays jumped out to a big lead, but the Cardinals put together a furious comeback to beat Tampa Bay.
The St. Louis Cardinals struck first when JJ Wetherholt came up for his second at-bat and hammered a 2-strike pitch into Freese’s Landing in center. JJ’s homer traveled 425 feet with an exit velocity of 101.7 mph.
Nathan Church made an incredible catch in the fifth inning bringing a potential home run back from over the left field wall.
It was the sixth inning when both teams would go wild. Matt Svanson relieved Matthew Liberatore who gave up 3 singles before being removed by Manager Oli Marmol who brought in Justin Bruihl. Chandler Simpson pinch-hit for the Rays singled past Masyn Winn to knock in a run. Aranda followed that with a sacrifice fly to center to give Tampa Bay a 3-1 lead. Bruihl was taken out of the game and replaced by Chris Roycroft who gives up 2 dribble singles. By the time the Tampa Bay sixth inning was done, the Rays lead was 7-1.
The Cardinals answered with one of the most exciting innings the team has had in recent years. Masyn Winn doubled followed by a RBI single by Nolan Gorman. Jordan Walker slammed a ground rule double over the center field wall with Gorman stopping at third base. Nathan Church then singled in both Gorman and Walker making it 7-5. Tampa Bay responded by bringing in Cleavinger in relief who immediately surrendered a single to Pedro Pages. Victor Scott II laid down the perfect bunt to load the bases. JJ Wetherholt flied out to deep right field bringing in Nathan Church to reduce the Rays lead to 7-6. Victor Scott II then stole 2nd base. Great situational hitting continued as Ivan Herrera’s sacrifice fly tied the game. It was Alec Burleson who brought Busch Stadium to its collective feet when he destroyed a ball into the right field stands as it traveled 432 feet.
One additional sixth inning note: The Rays catcher Fortes took a ball to the worst possible place, but miraculously managed to stay in the game. Chuck Norris would have been so proud of such courage. Seriously.
The St. Louis Cardinals shined on defense in the 8th inning when JJ Wetherholt made a fine play on a backhanded grab and Alec Burleson robbed the Rays on a line drive he grabbed that was screaming down the first base line. In the bottom of the 8th, Victor Scott II reached base on a broken bat single to center then was granted 2nd base when he drew three throws over to first base, but it was all for naught when Masyn Winn lined out to left field to end the inning.
The Cardinals brought in Ryan Stanek in the 9th inning to shut down the Rays, but he allowed unneeded drama allowing the Rays to load the bases, but St. Louis held on for a thrilling 9-7 victory after former Cardinal Palacios made the final out.
The energy in Busch Stadium today was amazing. Even when the Cardinals fell behind 7-1, the team did not lose its intensity. This was the first time the Cardinals have overcome a 6-run deficit since 2019 when they did it against the Cincinnati Reds. Matthew Liberatore threw a solid, if not spectacular 5 innings giving up 7 hits.
Los Angeles, CA – March 25: The Los Angeles Dodgers and UNIQLO announced a partnership renaming the Dodger Stadium playing field to UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles on Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (Photo by Keith Birmingham/MediaNews Group/Pasadena Star-News via Getty Images) | MediaNews Group via Getty Images
CLEVELAND, OHIO – DECEMBER 23: Darius Garland #10, Jarrett Allen #31 and Jaylon Tyson #20 of the Cleveland Cavaliers wave to fans prior to a game against the New Orleans Pelicans at Rocket Arena on December 23, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Cleveland Cavaliers have only had their new core four players of James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen all together on the court for three games this season. Friday’s contest against the Miami Heat could be their fourth.
Allen, who has missed the team’s last 10 games with a knee injury, is questionable for Friday’s rematch.
The Cavs made a bold decision at the deadline by sending out a much-younger Darius Garland for Harden. That move was done with the hopes that they would have a better chance of winning a title in the next few seasons, even if it cost them some long-term security. One of the issues of doing a move that drastic is that there isn’t much time to see how it all works.
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Allen was the biggest beneficiary of the Harden acquisition. He displayed an instant chemistry with Harden, which led to him playing the best basketball of his career in February. This resulted in team success as well, as the Cavs registered a +8.5 net rating (87th percentile) and 124.2 offensive rating (96th percentile) in the 256 minutes Harden and Allen shared the floor.
We know those groupings work. We don’t know for sure how it works when you throw Mobley into that mix. The Cavs have only played 35 minutes with all four on the court together. Those lineups have done incredibly well — +36.7 net rating — but it isn’t close to being a large enough sample size to draw any conclusions from. Figuring out how that lineup looks is critical to team success in the postseason.
Additionally, the Cavs have struggled defensively without Allen. That’s been seen in recent games as they’ve consistently over-helped to stop dribble penetration, which has led to giving up open threes. Having an additional rim protector should theoretically help with some of those issues.
This new group would ideally like more time to gel before playoff basketball starts. There’s only nine games left in the regular season. At the very least, Friday could be an opportunity to see how this looks when at least the team’s top players are fully healthy.
On the season, Allen is averaging 15.3 points and 8.5 rebounds per game on 63.6% shooting.
The Cavs will still be without Jaylon Tyson (toe), Craig Porter Jr. (groin), and Dean Wade (ankle) on Friday. Miami could be missing Jaime Jaquez Jr., who’s questionable for Friday’s game with an ankle sprain.
