In case you have been living under a rock for the past two months, the Cleveland Cavaliers are pretty damn good right now. They are 14-12, which is good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. They have done all of this winning while playing the league’s toughest schedule.
Darius Garland seems to have taken a huge leap in his game, and is quietly becoming one of the best young point guards in the NBA. On top of that the extension given to Jarrett Allen this summer is looking like a steal. The big man from Texas is averaging 17 points per game and over 11 rebounds. Not to be outdone, rookie big man Evan Mobley has been the most impressive Cavs rookie since LeBron James.
In the Cavs beatdown of the Bulls on Wednesday night, Mobley had another four blocks. On the season, he’s amazingly had 43 blocks, to only 45 fouls, which is amazing for a 20-year-old rookie to this point.
It’s safe to say the Cavaliers are cooking right now, and as the schedule gets easier, hopefully more wins will follow.
If you look back only a month ago, it looked as if things were about to fall apart for this young team. In a win over the New York Knicks on Nov. 7, starting guard Collin Sexton hurt his knee. It turned out he tore his meniscus, and had surgery, requiring him to be out for the rest of the season. On top of that, only eight days later on Nov. 15, rookie third overall pick Evan Mobley sprained his elbow and would miss four games. The Cavaliers would go on to lose all four of those games during Evan’s absence.
Fittingly, when he returned on Nov. 27, the Cavaliers clobbered the Orlando Magic 105-92. Including that win, they have gone 5-2 in their last seven games, with losses only coming to Western Conference powers in the Utah Jazz and the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. It brings up an interesting question, with the Cavs playing so well lately in Sexton’s absence, what should the plan be with the young man out of Alabama?