1 stud, 1 dud from Cavs collapse vs Kings Friday night

1 stud from Cavs loss to Kings: Jarrett Allen

The utter collapse at the end of the game erased much of the game script for the Cavs in the box score; players who were in line to finish with a +10 plus-minus suddenly fell into the negatives. To find a player to highlight, we have to look a little deeper and consult the eye test.

There are no perfect Cavs players from last night’s collapse, but Jarrett Allen comes the closest. With De’Aaron Fox out for the Kings Domantas Sabonis took on an even larger offensive role, and a Kings win would seemingly require a big night from the big.

Instead, Jarrett Allen shut off the hose. Sabonis was just 5-for-12 on the night, and only one of those was a score directly on Allen (two putbacks in scramble situations, two other layups against other defenders). Allen otherwise blocked or altered multiple shots and prevented Sabonis from even attempting others. All but one of Sabonis’ attempts was at the rim, and he hit just half of those.

Allen never got going offensively with just nine points, and his five turnovers are unacceptable for a low usage center. Still, among an entire team of disappointing performances, Allen was excellent for most of the game and set the tone for an elite defense, other than the first five minutes of the game and the final five when the Kings went off.

Shouts to Cedi Osman, who had 17 points, four rebounds and three steals in his 35 minutes of game time.