“Get Sam Cooking”: Donovan Mitchell Reveals the Broadcast Jab That Fueled Sam Merrill’s Career Night
The Cleveland Cavaliers are rolling. Winners of nine of their last ten, sitting comfortably in the Eastern Conference’s upper tier, they’ve become must-watch television for anyone tracking legitimate title contenders.
But Friday night’s 128-114 win over the New York Knicks came with an extra layer of satisfaction—courtesy of a broadcast team’s well-intentioned pregame analysis and one shooter’s apparently bottomless reservoir of motivation.
“I’m going to shoutout Brad, and John, whoever was doing the broadcast,” Donovan Mitchell said postgame, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. “Before the game, Sam saw the keys to the game, ‘Get Sam cooking.’ Sam was like, ‘Have I been that bad?’
The result? Sam Merrill erupted for a season-high 27 points, hitting 7-of-11 from three-point range, including a flurry of second-half daggers that buried any hope of a Knicks comeback.
The Backstory
The broadcast team identified by Mitchell as “Brad and John,” likely referring to the Knicks’ local crew included a simple pregame graphic outlining keys to a Cleveland victory.
Merrill, watching in the locker room or catching it on a screen, saw those four words and interpreted them exactly as shooters do:
The numbers suggest he hadn’t been that bad Merrill entered Friday shooting 38.4% from deep on the season, perfectly respectable for a rotation guard.
Merrill took it personally.
The Locker Room Dynamic
What made the moment particularly endearing was the camaraderie on display. Mitchell didn’t just praise Merrill’s shooting he delighted in the story behind it. He wanted the broadcast to know they’d contributed, inadvertently, to their own demise.
“I’m going to shoutout Brad, and John, whoever was doing the broadcast,” Mitchell repeated, ensuring maximum exposure for the bulletin board material.
“I just saw it and thought, ‘Alright, bet.'”
The Bigger Picture
Merrill’s explosion is the latest evidence that this Cavaliers team is different. They’re deep. They’re connected. They find motivation in the smallest details and weaponize it against opponents.
“When Sam is hitting like that,” one Eastern Conference scout noted, “there’s no answer. You can’t help off him. You can’t leave him. And if you double the stars, he makes you pay.”
What’s Next
The Cavaliers host the Orlando Magic on Sunday before heading into a soft stretch of schedule that could cement their position in the East’s top three. Merrill’s role is secure. His confidence, clearly, is intact.
And somewhere, Brad and John are probably rethinking their pregame graphics.