The Cleveland Cavaliers once again found themselves in NBA history at the end of week three. The Cavs became the fourth team in NBA history to start a season 15-0 after defeating the Charlotte Hornets 128-114 on Sunday night.
Every team that has started 15-0 reached the NBA Finals. Time will tell if Cleveland will share a similar fate, but what were the big themes from week four of the NBA season? Here are three takeaways from another undefeated Cavs week.
1. Jarrett Allen responded
After getting benched down the stretch against the Brooklyn Nets last week, Allen responded with a monstrous week. He had three straight double-doubles, including a 21 point, 15 rebound effort against the Hornets to end the week.
Allen has been the team’s rock defensively for most of the season and coach Kenny Atkinson obviously trusts him to be the team’s backbone. He has been able to respond in more ways than one early on in the young season.
Allen is only allowing 42 percent at the rim (non-restrictive area) and is ninth in the NBA in rebounds per game at 10.9. He has been a paint beast for Cleveland.
2. The resurgence of Niang
Georges Niang had a rough end to last season and that carried over to start this season. Coming into the week, Niang was six-for-20 from three-point range in his last six games. However, Niang made his impact felt in this four game stretch.
In the four games this week, Niang averaged about 12 points per game, shot 49 percent from the field and 38 percent from three. This included a spot start against the Chicago Bulls in the NBA Cup opener, where Niang made four threes and had an 11-point third quarter.
Niang has said that he came into this season in the best shape of his life and he has played better after a rough start. The Cavs will need him to be a consistent floor spacer this season.
3. Cavs’ fast starts
The Cavs have done a good job of getting off to fast offensive starts this season and that trend continued in week four. This includes the 77-point first half they had against the Bulls, that led to 144 points being scored for the game.
Cleveland scored at least 65 points in the first half in three of four games last week. A huge reason for that has been the crisp and fast ball movement, as the Cavs had at least 16 assists in first halves in three of four games.
The Cavs’ fast starts have propelled them to this hot start to the season and that is something they will look to continue this week.
What’s next for the Cavs this week?
Cleveland has its biggest test of the season against the Boston Celtics tonight, a battle of two Eastern Conference heavyweights in the NBA Cup. They then have matchups against the Raptors and Hawks to close the week.
Tune into TNT at 7:00 PM ET to see the Cavaliers v Celtics showdown.