4 stories from the Cavs win over OKC on Saturday
By John Suchan
Cavs story #2: Doubles anyone?
The Cavaliers lead the league with the most double-doubles this season with 62 of them. Cleveland’s Jarrett Allen has 25 of them. They had two players last night register them as well, including Allen and Mobley. Allen’s 25, which he has so far, is what he recorded all of last year, so he’s on pace to double that total by season’s end.
For comparison’s sake, the Thunder only have 18 of them total as a team for the season.
The consistency of the Cavs team to have players score in double figures nightly and rebound too is one of the main reasons this team is playing so well. They have seven players that are averaging double figures in scoring.
Cavs story #3: Darius Garland is an All-Star
Darius Garland continues to dominate the game right now and is the leader of this Cavs team with how he’s scoring and getting his teammates involved. He again recorded another 20-plus-point performance. He’s recorded 23, 20, 22, 27, and 32 points in the last five games. He’s also had double-digit assists in the last four games with 11, 12, 12, and 18. He recorded his first triple-double on the season back in the win at the Utah Jazz a week ago when he had 11 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds.
About the only area that is a bit concerning is Garland’s persistence at launching the three-point ball which he’s not been accurate on as of late. Maybe it’s been him trying to contribute too much at times, as he thinks that the team needs him to hit the long-distance shot.
In his last 10 games he’s gone 21-for-69 from outside the three-point line. That’s a 30.4 percent average. If you just look at the last four games that percentage goes down to 22.7 as he’s gone 5-for-22. Ouch!
However, that’s a minor issue and there certainly doesn’t seem to be anything stopping Garland from getting better long term. His confidence is growing. His scoring average now sits at 19.8 along with 8.1 assists, with both numbers being significantly better than in years past.
It’ll be a treat for Cavaliers fans when he’s hopefully selected to the All-Star Game in a few weeks played here in Cleveland.