Tyrese Proctor Explains How Rebounding Is Unlocking His Game for Cavaliers

Tyrese Proctor stepped to the free-throw line with 9:14 to play Monday night and Cleveland down 93-92. He made both, and the Cleveland Cavaliers led the Oklahoma City Thunder for the first time since the second quarter.

Oklahoma City won 117-112 at Rocket Arena behind 43 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Proctor scored 10 points on 3-of-4 shooting in 18 minutes off the bench. He made 2 of 3 3-point attempts and both free throws, and he added 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Cleveland outscored Oklahoma City by 5 points with him on the floor.

He checked in for Evan Mobley with 4:18 left in the first quarter. His 25-foot 3-pointer from Sam Merrill at 1:44 put the Cavaliers up 27-23, and a 30-footer from Mario Hezonja with 30.2 seconds left made it 30-25. Between them, he rebounded a Gilgeous-Alexander miss with 41.7 seconds left in the period.

In the third quarter, his pass set up Hezonja's 27-foot 3-pointer at 4:05, which cut Oklahoma City's lead to 79-76.

In the fourth quarter, Proctor opened Cleveland's scoring with a finger-roll layup 21 seconds in. He grabbed a defensive rebound at 9:59, then drew a shooting foul from Micah Peavy at 9:14. He finished the quarter with 4 points and 2 rebounds in a little more than six minutes before Donovan Mitchell replaced him with 5:47 left.

Defensive rebounds are what let Proctor push the pace Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson keeps asking for.

"It's been huge," Proctor said. "I think all parts of my game, I think my rebounding specifically, it's helped me in that, just crushing the glass, trying to be a better [rebounder], and it also allows me to push the ball in transition. So to keep that pace that we wanna play with, Kenny's emphasized that a number of times."

"And I feel like if I'm getting rebounds defensively, offensively, but mainly defensively, I can just push the pace in transition, get better shots," Proctor continued. "And then I think defensively as well, just being able to bully screens, early hits, early bumps, and just enforcing my will."

Cleveland took Proctor 49th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft out of Duke. The guard from Sydney, Australia, appeared in 50 games as a rookie and averaged 5.4 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.5 assists in 10.9 minutes.

He had 7 points and 6 rebounds in the Oct. 29 loss at Atlanta. In Saturday's win at Milwaukee, he scored 9 points with 4 rebounds and 5 assists.

Mobley scored 27 points and Jarrett Allen had 25 in that 136-111 win over the Bucks.

Any given night anyone on the roster can go off, Proctor said Monday morning, pointing to what Cleveland's two bigs did in Milwaukee.

"It's been good. Just trying to come in, impact when I'm on the court. I think that's a big thing," Proctor explained. "Our starters have been doing a great job getting off to strong starts, and it's my job to come in and match that and, if not, exceed that. So I think I've had a great start to the year. I feel real comfortable out there, obviously, with a whole bunch of different lineups. So just trying to pick and choose my spots and get everyone involved at the same time."

Peyton Watson and Jaylon Tyson were both inactive Monday. Proctor and Hezonja played 45 combined minutes off the bench and scored 22 points. Each team's bench finished with 34.

Both Proctor and Meleek Thomas were energetic and pushed the pace for Cleveland, Hezonja said after the game.

"Tyrese just being that smart, constantly pushing, constantly being in a good positioning and playing off the ball as well, understanding the flow of the game, understanding his spot," Hezonja said. "So that's huge for us."

The Cavaliers play at Oklahoma City on Wednesday, with tip-off at 8 p.m. ET.