The Cleveland Cavaliers finished the past week 1-2, not including Cleveland’s rout of the Dallas Mavericks on Monday, with their losses coming to tough teams with the Brooklyn Nets and Phoenix Suns, and they bounced back to end the week against the Orlando Magic.
The team once again showed their ability to remain a tough, competitive team, even in defeat with both losses ending in somewhat close final scores.
They also gained some depth back with Lauri Markkanen returning from COVID-19 health and safety protocols, and Evan Mobley came back from injury into the starting lineup. Markkanen had a solid week averaging 18.7 points and 8 rebounds per game in that span.
The Player of the Week for this past week, however, is Darius Garland, once again.
Garland again was the standout performer for the Cavs from their three games from this past week of Nov. 22-28.
Garland has stepped up with the absence of Collin Sexton and has brought great value to the team as their primary ball-handler. Garland averaged 23 points and 9.7 assists on the week with two double-doubles.
These are the kind of numbers we had hoped for when picturing Garland’s ideal trajectory a few years back, and he is finally realizing that potential. His playmaking has been essential to run big lineups and has helped the success of the trio of Jarrett Allen, Mobley, and Markkanen.
He has also had success finding scoring opportunities himself, putting up nearly 20 points in every game this week. One area of concern with his scoring has unfortunately been his three-point shooting which has struggled lately after shooting 12-of-46 from deep on the past five games.
This is likely a bad slump and will hopefully correct itself soon because combining his ability to create offense with the potential spacing he brings could help this offense remain consistent. The capabilities are there, in fairness.
An honorable mention for someone who also performed well this past week is Jarrett Allen, who averaged 21.3 points and 12.3 rebounds over the three games. Allen has had a great season and continues to find success despite playing in an already tall lineup.
On Monday night of course, Allen had one of his strongest performances with a career-high 28 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks for the Cavaliers. Allen has certainly lived up to the expectations of his new contract awarded this offseason.
Allen’s play has made an impact that has helped change the level of play from this team and is what makes this team better than last year and has helped them remain competitive this season night-in, night-out.