3 studs in Cavs tremendous comeback win over Pacers

Stud No. 1: Jarrett Allen

Jarrett Allen finished with his regular double-double on the evening, scoring 15 points and pulling down 17 rebounds. But it’s what he did in the first half of this game that saved this team from a certain loss.

He put maximum effort into grabbing boards, drawing fouls on contact, and diving after loose balls sailing out of bounds that kept the team within striking distance. He played outstanding defense and helped the team close that 20-point Pacers lead down to single digits.

The Cavs big man was a definite snub from the upcoming NBA All-Star Game scheduled to take place here in Cleveland in roughly two weeks. After playing out of his mind in the Cavaliers’ win down in Charlotte at the Hornets on Friday, he followed that up with 12 points and 10 boards in the first half of this game.

He’s certainly reminding the NBA that they messed up in not putting him on the All-Star team this season.

Stud No. 2: Cedi Osman

I’m a big supporter of the Cavs forward Dean Wade, who got the start for the Wine and Gold in this one. Wade played a solid game on Sunday night in limited minutes. I was suggesting to a few of my fellow KJG contributors that I didn’t like the substitution rotation of Wade for Cedi Osman tonight. I say that because Wade is the better defender and if Osman isn’t shooting the ball well, then leave Wade on the floor to help with defense.

And for most of the game, Osman was lousy, especially with his shooting the basketball. He started out going 0-7 from the floor.

However, the lightbulb went off in Osman’s head at the start of the fourth quarter and he was electric, going 8-of-9 the rest of the game and knocking down 22 points.

Osman is one of the streakiest shooters in the league and that was certainly apparent in this game. Let’s hope he can keep the shooting touch going into the next game.