The Cleveland Cavaliers finished this past week of Nov. 1-7 at 4-0 with quality wins over the Charlotte Hornets, Portland Trail Blazers, Toronto Raptors, and New York Knicks.
They won three close games and the player who stuck out the most throughout all four was big man Jarrett Allen.
Cavs: Allen was terrific in this past week’s slate of games, and was Cleveland’s clear standout.
Allen averaged 20.5 points, 16.3 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks across the four-game span.
Allen is currently averaging 14.9 points and 11.6 points per game on the season after receiving a five-year, $100 million contract this offseason when he was re-signed.
Allen has shown to be a vital part of the teams’ success so far this season and has proven to be a solid fit with the team. The pairing with Evan Mobley has worked out as smoothly as both have had great success this season.
Allen and Mobley’s potential as a pair was on full display in the win over the Hornets. Together they put up double-doubles with Allen having 24 points, 16 rebounds, and three blocks. Mobley finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and a block.
Allen has found a good opportunity in this offense and has also generated plays for himself by taking the ball off the dribble and finishing. He and Mobley have fed off of each other plenty this season and had multiple plays between each other in the Hornets game, including an alley-oop from Allen to Mobley.
His defense is also a big factor in the team’s success, with the team currently just outside of the top 10 for points allowed in 11th. There were two games this week where Allen had four blocks in them, also.
He and Mobley together had helped balance the pairing of Collin Sexton and Darius Garland with their defensive presence. Allen’s ability to help when perimeter defense breaks down with his versatility has been huge with Isaac Okoro out (left hamstring strain), too.
Allen had a great week that earned him the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Week, something that has not been done by a Cavalier since LeBron James. He has been a big reason the team is winning tough games and is now 7-4.
It is also worth mentioning Ricky Rubio for his performance this week. Rubio came up big in a win versus the Knicks and exploded with a career-high 37 points and 10 assists, finishing 8-of-9 from deep.
He has been an important piece coming off the bench and that will continue to show going forward as the team has lost Sexton for the foreseeable future due to a meniscus tear in his left knee.