Nae’Qwan Tomlin’s 33 points lead Charge to victory

The newest Cavaliers two-way player continues to impress.

The Cleveland Charge rebounded nicely from a poor performance last night to defeat the Maine Celtics 127-123 in overtime. Strong outings from all three of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ two-way players, which included a game-winner from Luke Travers, allowed the Charge to split the two-game set with the Celtics.

Nae’Qwan Tomlin helped the Charge get out to a strong start. His 11 first-quarter points on 5-6 shooting helped fuel a Cleveland lead that ballooned to 11 in the opening frame.

This was a much-needed departure from yesterday’s loss, where the Charge fell down by double digits early.

Maine closed the quarter on a 12-5 run. This made it a one-point game after the first.

Neither team could create separation in the second and third quarters. A buzzer-beater sidestep three from Jules Bernard made it a tie game going into the fourth. Bernard provided 18 much-needed bench points for Cleveland.

That shot seemed to kickstart Cleveland’s offense. They started the final frame on a 15-4 run to take another 11-point lead.

The Celtics didn’t go quietly from there. They fought back to tie things up with under a minute left due in part to two late missed free throws from Emoni Bates. Tomlin had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but couldn’t connect on a midrange jumper.

Bates opened the scoring in overtime for Cleveland by draining a deep three. Tomlin added a transition layup off of a nice feed from Travers. Travers then ended the game with a 14-foot floater to reach the target score and secure the victory.

“We believe in Luke,” said Bates to Fear the Sword postgame. “We trust him to take that shot.”

Defense was an issue on Friday against Maine. The Charge couldn’t get stops which caused them to fall down by as many as 32 before starting their failed comeback.

On Saturday, they resorted to a 2-3 zone which did a better job of slowing the Celtics down. This kept them out of fastbreak situations with the exception of the third quarter.

Cleveland’s better defensive execution allowed them to use Tomlin’s 33-point performance to the fullest.

Tomlin was phenomenal. He displayed all the skills that made the Cavs believe in his upside. He displayed good off-the-dribble creation, finishing around the rim, and a deadly three-point shot. His offense carried the Charge for large portions of the game, specifically at the start of the first and third quarters.

“That’s why he got what he got,” ates said afterward referring to Tomlin’s recently signed two-way deal with the Cavs.

It’s not too often you see someone put up 33 on just 16 shot attempts and only one free throw. Tomlin simply couldn’t miss as he went 14-16 from the field while providing 11 big rebounds.

Simply put, it was an all-around outstanding performance. And also one that we’ve come to expect from Tomlin.

“I always knew Qwan could hoop,” Bates said. “I even told [head coach Chris Darnel] that because people didn’t know that before the season. At the beginning of the season, he wasn’t even playing for real. He was getting DNPs. I mean, he worked for that.

“You don’t see a lot of people going from not playing to playing 30 to 40 minutes a night. He just stayed down and got rewarded.”

Bates left Friday’s game with a lower-body injury. That didn’t seem to affect him on Saturday, as he put together a solid game.

This was one of the better offensive outings from a process perspective that I’ve seen from Bates. He didn’t have his outside shot falling early but was able to get two feet into the paint and playmake from there. Bates had multiple finishes through traffic and made the right reads when the defense collapsed.

This was the type of improvement you want to see.

“I work on it,” Bates said when asked about attacking the paint. “The coaches tell me to get downhill. Beginning the season, I was hurt, so I wasn’t trusting my knee that much. ... I’m starting to feel comfortable.”

Bates’s 13 points in the fourth quarter and overtime helped the Charge seal the win. He finished the game with 24 points on 9-18 shooting, which included going 4-12 from three, to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.

“I just stayed level-headed,” Bates said. “I mean, shots weren’t really falling for me. Missed free throws, which was a big one for me, but my teammates just kept me going. Just told me, ‘We need you.’”

Travers struggled to get into a rhythm but still almost finished with a triple-double. That speaks to how his skill level stands out at this level.

The rookie wasn’t able to consistently finish the decent looks he generated for himself around the rim early on. That, and not getting his outside shot going, led to an inefficient night by Travers’s standards. He provided 16 points on 7-18 shooting to go along with ten rebounds and eight assists.

Still, Travers was able to come up big when they needed him to.

Maine was led by JD Davison. He supplied 36 points on 12-25 shooint go go along with 10 assists. Tristan Enaruna had 26 points on 8-16 shooting.

The win improves the Charge to 11-16 in the regular season. Their next game is Tuesday at 7 PM when they host the Rip City Remix.