Kenny Atkinson Makes Strong Peyton Watson Statement After Win vs. 76ers

Peyton Watson came back from a two-game absence Friday night and started at power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He had 13 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 assists in a 119-95 win over the Philadelphia 76ers at Rocket Arena.

Right hamstring tightness kept Watson out of Monday’s and Wednesday’s losses to Oklahoma City. He was listed as questionable through Friday afternoon along with Jarrett Allen and Tyrese Proctor. Allen sat out, and Watson and Proctor played.

Watson shot 6-of-14 and made 1 of his 4 3-point attempts. He was plus-22 in 28 minutes and did not commit a turnover, after giving it away 5 times in Cleveland’s 114-106 loss in Philadelphia on Oct. 22.

Tyrese Maxey had 17 points for the 76ers on 5-of-15 shooting and went 2-of-9 from deep. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said Maxey is playing as well as anybody in the league.

“Defense,” Atkinson said. “Peyton Watson, big difference. I thought the job he did on Maxey was excellent. I think Maxey’s playing as well as anybody in the league. So it was great having him back, and just a better — what I talked about before the game — better job protecting the paint. Limited their rim attempts. Did a good job on Embiid. So, this defense — offense was so-so, but can’t have everything.”

Maxey scored 32 in the first meeting, 10 of them on the fast break. According to ESPN, he led the NBA with 382 fast-break points last season.

Before Friday’s game, Atkinson said Philadelphia’s live-ball turnovers fuel its transition game. The 76ers scored 24 fast-break points on Oct. 22. They had 17 on Friday.

An elbow injury kept Sam Merrill out after halftime. Watson started the second half with Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, and rookie Meleek Thomas.

His 27-foot 3 off a Mitchell pass made it 73-65 with 7:07 left in the third quarter. At 2:43, his driving floater pushed the lead to 83-72 and sent Philadelphia to a timeout. With 36.8 seconds left, Proctor stole a pass from Anfernee Simons, and Watson scored on the other end. Cleveland led 91-74 after three.

Atkinson said Cleveland has to make sure it is empowering Watson to bring the ball up.

“A big part of that was Peyton, like starting,” Atkinson explained. “Obviously he’s been out a little bit here, so we got to make sure we’re empowering him to bring the ball up, but especially if they’re going to put their five on him, or a lesser defender, he’s got to be in attack mode, and I thought that was part of it.”

“And then you got Meleek and Tyrese running the wings,” Atkinson continued. “Upped our speed level, but I think a big part of that was Peyton.”

Nine of Watson’s points and 7 of his rebounds came in the second half. Midway through the fourth quarter, he rebounded a Dean Wade miss, had a driving dunk blocked by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and grabbed his own miss. His pass found Mobley for a 23-foot 3 that made it 101-78 with 7:30 left.

Allen’s absence left Cleveland without its starting center against Joel Embiid, who went 0-of-9 from the field.

“Big time, especially defensively, right?” Mitchell said. “Obviously having JA out, having him in there. Obviously, you have Ev who has his length, and then Peyton, who’s disrupting the ball. And then when Ev’s on the perimeter, you got a guy like Peyton down there challenging guys at the rim, making it tough on guys on ball.”

“So it was big time to have him back, especially considering JA was out,” Mitchell detailed. “But you look at what he’s done on the defensive end, then offensively, 6-of-14, man, plus-22, 9 boards. Doing it all.”

Mobley said Watson draws a crowd in the paint when he gets downhill.

“I think just his athleticism, and then also his ability to recover,” Mobley said. “A lot of times, you’ll see him all the way in the paint helping on somebody, and then they kick it out. [You] think he’s going to be a wide-open three, and he’s out there, and gets a contest, or they pump fake, one dribble, he’s still getting a contest. He can fly around the court and just create havoc on the defensive end.”

“And then offensively, his ability to get downhill and draw so many people in the paint, I think that’s also very beneficial for us as well,” Mobley added. “So, yeah, we definitely missed him, and I’m glad he’s back.”

Cleveland acquired Watson from the Denver Nuggets in a sign-and-trade agreed to Aug. 19. He signed a four-year, $88 million contract that includes a player option and a trade kicker.

Through his first six games, all starts, Watson averaged 10.8 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 37.1% from the field and 16.7% from 3-point range. Before Wednesday’s game, Atkinson said Watson and Jaylon Tyson were trending well in their recoveries. Tyson missed his fourth straight game Friday with a right ankle sprain.

Next up for Cleveland is the New York Knicks at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on NBA TV, the back half of a back-to-back.