Sam Merrill News: Provides spark off bench

Merrill chipped in 22 points (7-13 FG, 5-11 3Pt, 3-3 FT), two rebounds, three assists and one steal across 31 minutes during Thursday's 131-122 loss to the Timberwolves.

Merrill reverted to a bench role Thursday after starting in each of the Cavaliers' prior two games, but he still gave his team a nice scoring punch and finished with the second-most points on Cleveland behind Donovan Mitchell (30). It was the fourth game in which Merrill scored 20-plus points in a game, and he tied a season high he has reached twice before. He has scored in double digits in seven of his last eight outings, and over that span he has averaged 15.4 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 4.0 threes and 0.9 steals over 27.3 minutes per game.