Oct 27, 2026 · 37 min · 10 segments
In this episode of the Wine and Gold Talk podcast, host Ethan Sands, cleveland.com Cavs beat reporter Chris Fedor and columnist Jimmy Watkins discuss the Cleveland Cavaliers' impressive comeback…
Chris FedorPanelist
Jimmy WatkinsPanelist
Ethan SandsHost
Yeah, look, anytime you have a game that goes into overtime that's as thrilling as this one between the Cavs and the Wolves, I think there are a number of different things, right? You had the duel between Donovan Mitchell and Anthony Edwards down the stretch.
You had Evan Mobley stepping up, making clutch three-pointers because Rudy Gobert didn't want to go out to the perimeter and guard him.
You had James Harden turning things around completely in the third quarter at a time that the Cavs absolutely needed him to get going because...
Peyton Watson with a block on Anthony Edwards, despite giving up 47 points, like he showed a level of activity and defensive tenacity and willingness on the defensive end of the floor.
And in the words of Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs, a team that has championship aspirations, playing against one of the best teams from the Western Conference, rode the coattails of a second-round rookie, a 20-year-old rookie.
And it just makes you start to think, okay, do they have something here? What is it going to be like as this season continues to go on and he gets more minutes, he gets more opportunities? What is it going to mean for the Cavs when they have this kid who has this much confidence, who plays with this kind of defensive competitiveness? What can that do for this team? What can it do from a depth perspective? What can it do from a talent perspective? What can it do from a floor spacing perspective? and all that kind of stuff, because he was absolutely sensational.
And it wasn't so much the shot making, that was great, but just the energy that he brought.
The minute that he checked into the game, the energy of the game changed, and the energy inside the arena changed.
And at that point, the Cavs were sleepwalking and they were sleepwalking through a majority of the first half.
But every time Malik went on the floor, you could just feel a different level of activity.
You know, this wasn't a game against the Milwaukee Bucks in garbage time where Kenny Atkinson threw Malik Thomas out there and he got a little bit of burn and he got some playing time and he got his toes wet.
This was first quarter, midway through the first quarter, one of the first subs off the bench after not playing in the first two games and he completely shifted the game.
Yeah, look, anytime you have a game that goes into overtime that's as thrilling as this one between the Cavs and the Wolves, I think there are a number of different things, right? You had the duel between Donovan Mitchell and Anthony Edwards down the stretch.
You had Evan Mobley stepping up, making clutch three-pointers because Rudy Gobert didn't want to go out to the perimeter and guard him.
You had James Harden turning things around completely in the third quarter at a time that the Cavs absolutely needed him to get going because...
Peyton Watson with a block on Anthony Edwards, despite giving up 47 points, like he showed a level of activity and defensive tenacity and willingness on the defensive end of the floor.
And in the words of Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs, a team that has championship aspirations, playing against one of the best teams from the Western Conference, rode the coattails of a second-round rookie, a 20-year-old rookie.
And it just makes you start to think, okay, do they have something here? What is it going to be like as this season continues to go on and he gets more minutes, he gets more opportunities? What is it going to mean for the Cavs when they have this kid who has this much confidence, who plays with this kind of defensive competitiveness? What can that do for this team? What can it do from a depth perspective? What can it do from a talent perspective? What can it do from a floor spacing perspective? and all that kind of stuff, because he was absolutely sensational.
And it wasn't so much the shot making, that was great, but just the energy that he brought.
The minute that he checked into the game, the energy of the game changed, and the energy inside the arena changed.
And at that point, the Cavs were sleepwalking and they were sleepwalking through a majority of the first half.
But every time Malik went on the floor, you could just feel a different level of activity.
You know, this wasn't a game against the Milwaukee Bucks in garbage time where Kenny Atkinson threw Malik Thomas out there and he got a little bit of burn and he got some playing time and he got his toes wet.
This was first quarter, midway through the first quarter, one of the first subs off the bench after not playing in the first two games and he completely shifted the game.
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