Mario Hezonja Draws Major Praise as Cavaliers Search on the Wing

Mario Hezonja scored 10 points in 17 minutes off the bench for the Cleveland Cavaliers in Thursday night's 114-111 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. He made 4-of-6 shots, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range, and added 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and a steal.

Peyton Watson went 1-of-8 from the field. Jaylon Tyson went 1-of-7.

Five games into the season, Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said Cleveland is still looking for production on the wing.

"Really good," Atkinson said. "We needed him. We're searching a little bit, trying to find, trying to find someone on the wing that was going to step up, and he stepped up tonight."

Cleveland signed Hezonja to a one-year, $2.8 million contract in late July. By then, free agency had taken Dean Wade to Philadelphia, Keon Ellis to Brooklyn, and Larry Nance Jr. to Indiana. In August, the Cavaliers sent Max Strus to the LA Clippers in the multi-team sign-and-trade that brought in Watson.

Spain's Liga ACB named Hezonja its MVP last season, when he averaged 13.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.4 assists for Real Madrid. He spent four seasons there.

Orlando drafted him fifth overall in 2015. After three seasons in Orlando, he played for the Knicks in 2018-19 and finished his first NBA stint in Portland in 2019-20. He left the league with career averages of 6.9 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.

Before the opener, Atkinson said he did not want to put Hezonja in a box while he learned how the 31-year-old's game fit the NBA. Thursday's starters were James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Watson, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

Watson played 22 minutes in his start. He picked up 5 fouls and finished with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks, going 2-of-4 at the free-throw line.

A night earlier, he had 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting and 6 rebounds in 28 minutes of a 121-111 home win over the Washington Wizards.

Atkinson shared some of the frustration over the fouls.

"Listen, he's been great," Atkinson explained. "He's been great for us. Tonight, the ball wouldn't go in tonight. And then he got in foul trouble. I think he was frustrated. I was frustrated a little bit, right? A couple of those fouls, I don't know. He's been really good for us. Just [a] tough one tonight."

Cleveland acquired Watson from Denver on Aug. 19, and his deal runs four years and $88 million. Harden called the move a no-brainer at media day in September.

Watson averaged 14.6 points and 4.9 rebounds in 54 games with the Nuggets last season and shot 41.1% from 3-point range. Denver took him 30th overall in 2022.

Cleveland went 22-of-29 at the free-throw line and 13-of-42 from beyond the arc. Atkinson said most of those 3-point attempts were good ones.

"So much better. So much better," Atkinson said. "That's why I was really happy. They were very aggressive on the ball, and Don and James and TP, we were hitting [them]. We get that ball [to] those guys in the pocket, good things happen."

"We get to the free throw line, we get open looks," Atkinson continued. "Unfortunately, didn't make them at a high enough rate tonight. I thought most of the threes we had were good. So I like — especially offensively, we had some really good process plays."

Mobley had 7 assists. Allen made 5-of-8 shots for 14 points, and Harden drew 9 free-throw attempts and converted 7 of them.

Tyrese Proctor added 7 points and 6 rebounds in 20 minutes. Sam Merrill made 4 of his 8 tries from 3-point range and scored 16.

After Saturday's 8 p.m. ET game at Milwaukee, the Cavaliers return to Rocket Arena to host the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7 p.m. ET on Monday.