Cavs grades are up with the return of Evan Mobley

The Cleveland Cavaliers played three games this past week and went 1-2. They lost to the high-flying Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, but came back and beat the Orlando Magic Saturday. The Cavs also got their rookie sensation and big man Evan Mobley back, which was really important, considering they had lost five games in a row.

It was a tale of playing two of the league’s best in Brooklyn and Phoenix, the latter of whom are winners of 16 games in row, and then playing the hapless Magic team that have only won four games this year. So, the Cavaliers got the necessary win on Saturday and are now 10-10 on the season after playing 20 games.

This week the Cavs players again played tough and are certainly looking like a much better unit that is starting to learn how to win more close games. A year ago, the team was 10-11 on the season. One doesn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves but this year certainly doesn’t have the same type of feel as last year when the team started losing multiple games in several stretches that took that final record to a dismal 22-50.

With Mobley and the other two big men, Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen, in the starting unit, now teams are having to adjust to the taller lineup and that has created more opportunities and advantages for the Cavs.

With that, lets grade the Cleveland ball players for the week.

Jarrett Allen Grade: A

Allen was outstanding this past week. He went for 25 points and 11 rebounds in the game against the Phoenix Suns. In this game he was 9-for-10 from the field while playing 38 minutes. His teammates played the Suns tough but couldn’t stay with the Suns late.

In the game against the Orlando Magic, Allen added 19 points and another 11 rebounds. He was 8-for-9 from the field in that game that included a couple nice lob passes from his point guard Darius Garland that he threw down for dunks. He continues to get more and more confident on the floor and that is a big plus for Cleveland.