As he watches he role with the Cavaliers change this season, center Jarrett Allen remains a key part of the best team in the league by record in 2024/25, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Allen has ceded some touches and minutes to rising forward Evan Mobley this season, in an effort to help the All-Defensive Teamer take the next step in his own game. Fedor notes that Allen has occasionally even been on the bench late in games so Mobley can play center.
“Evan has been amazing this year,” Allen said. “I have always wanted to push him forward no matter what. Whether it’s taking the toughest assignment on defense so he can shine and have more energy on offense or just being in the dunker spot so he can have more room. Whatever I have to do to make him the best player, so he can unlock this offense and unlock this team, I’m willing to do it.”
Allen has seen his own numbers decline a little this season. After averaging a career-high 16.5 points per game last season, the 6’11” big man is averaging 13.7 PPG on an efficient 69.5% shooting from the floor, along with 10.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per night.
“He is just willing to do what it takes to win, whatever that ask is and it could be different every night,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “He’s a huge cog. He is invaluable. When he plays at a top level, we are really hard to beat.”
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- The Cavaliers’ 122-110 victory over the Lakers on Tuesday extended their win streak to eight games, observes Fedor in another Cleveland.com story. Each of those wins was by a double-digit margin. Cleveland is now 29-4 on the year, good for a 72-win pace. “We know it’s about playoff performance,” Atkinson said. “That’s what it comes down to. You don’t want to be that team that everyone says, ‘Oh, they’re a good regular season team.’” Lakers head coach JJ Redick had high praise for Cleveland after the loss dropped his team to an 18-14 record. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN (via Twitter), Redick believes clubs need to play “close to perfect basketball” to defeat the Cavaliers.
- All-NBA forward Giannis Antetokounmpo gave the Bucks an instant spark upon returning to the team from a four-game absence, writes Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The two-time MVP helped his team rally out of a 19-point third quarter hole against Indiana, eventually resulting in a 27-point swing and a surprise 120-112 win. “We’re still a work in progress is what it says,” head coach Doc Rivers said of the comeback. “What [it] also says is having Giannis and Dame [All-Star point guard (Damian Lillard) on the floor allows you to close a lot better and that’s why we closed tonight.”
- Though Bulls rookie forward Matas Buzelis was selected with the No. 11 pick in this past summer’s draft, he has been played sparingly by head coach Billy Donovan for much of his first pro season. Donovan recently reiterated that he is prioritizing more veteran players over Buzelis with an eye towards winning, per Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “The balance between (Buzelis) and also the responsibility to try and make decisions that I feel are the best to put the team in position to win,” Donovan said. “This is not to be critical of Matas, but when there are things going on out there that he is not doing a good enough job on, I can’t just keep on keeping him out there. He’s got to have a level of responsibility.”
You gotta love the Cavs run so far this year. Very impressive.
As a sidenote, can some warrior fans perhaps consider that Kenny Atkinson was a pretty darn good coach and maybe Steve Kerr leaned on him quite a bit the last few years?
Maybe the Warriors are struggling right now because Terry Stotts is not quite the motivator or X and Os guy or teacher that Kenny Atkinson is? Let’s give it time but maybe those things are a consideration?
It would be great to see Kenny and the Cavaliers make some noise in the playoffs this season.
I think that the main reason the Warriors are struggling right now is because Curry and Green are getting old and they don’t have the support players around them to help make up for their defenencies. Curry’s still very good and Wiggins is good but there aren’t any great and not enough good players left in San Francisco.
Yup. I certainly hope Dunleavy can turn this roster around by the trade deadline. Some suggest Curry is getting old and that is probably true, but I just see him getting double teamed, and triple teamed a lot which affects his numbers.
Then he’ll start shooting from waaay out just to get things going for himself or the team. Those misses look bad and help him appear to have a few more wrinkles also.
But yeah, Green is getting old as well. Not the spray young guy he once was and that affects rebounding defense as well as patience and court demeanor.
He was a crotchety old man before and now he’s an old man who’s got the major grumpies.
Mike Dunlevy Junior to the rescue?
I’m sorry, but Billy Donovan needs to go. Would be fitting to join the ranks of Chicago head coaches to be fired in the last year
Billy has a secret extension as well as the front office. We all know Jerry isn’t going to pay a coach not to coach :-(
Don’t agree with you. Donovan isn’t the problem. The Bulls lack a big time front court player such as Antetokounmpo, Embiid, Durant, Tatum, Tatum, Jokic, etc. The Bull’s front court is on the small size . Vucevic has his strengths and weaknesses but isn’t an athletic interior player such as Adebayo or Lively/Gafford.
Donovan is the problem if he’s trying to win. This team needs to be blown up. Front office and ownership are too stupid to realize that this team is not capable of winning a championship. Play the young guys and rebuild (once again lol) and tank for a top pick. It’s that simple. If Donovan is purposefully benching a young player like Buzelis to win when they shouldn’t, then he needs to go.
Ownership is the problem. Reinsdorf is an impatient idiot. Same story with what happened to the White Sox. They contended for one season, underachieved, and now they’re the worst team in MLB by every measure, not just W/L record. Until he either sells the team or passes on, improvement is not a priority nor a possibility for either the Bulls or White Sox.
Yeah Buzelis is the problem. Because he’s supposed to play like a 10 year veteran in his first year. But that would take a Real HC who could teach him something instead of just shipping him off to the G League. It’s not the players but the coaches that are the biggest short term problem. But Donovan’s not getting fired but it would be interesting to see them with a Decent Coaching staff. This thing needs to be blown up and start over.
Players won’t have respect for a coach who doesn’t play the players who have earned and deserve to be on the court. Not a coaches’ job to intentionally lose games.
100% agree. Brown > billy donovan
What has Brown done to make him any better than Donovan?
Made it to NBA Finals, didn’t blow a 3-1 lead in the conference finals, probably would be smart enough to not lose your first round pick in the best draft class in decades to try and make the play-in where you’ll lose again.
GM supports him and they were so dumb they held on to Andre Drummond when they could have had 2-3 2nd round picks when he was sparingly played (Billy didn’t play him in Paris game) and was going to leave either way.