Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland duel for top spot in Cavs Top 3 following Wizards blowout

Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland dominate Wizards for Cavs’ 4th victory in a row.

The Cavs defeated the Wizards on Friday night 116-101, behind dominating performances from Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland. This is not only the Cavs’ fourth straight win but the fourth straight double-digit win in a row as well. The Cavaliers are blowing teams out and have now improved their record to 13-10.

The Cavaliers gassed out in the fourth, still down Cedi Osman and Dean Wade, the team played just eight men for most of the game. Four of the five starters played at least 34 minutes, which is unusual for this Cavs team. The team had a massive lead and still defeated the Wizards by 15.

Now, onto the Top 3. As always, the bottom is in descending order with the lowest number being the worst and the top is in ascending order with three being the best.

The Top 3 from the dominant win over the Wizards

The Bottom Three Performers

1. Isaac Okoro
2. Ricky Rubio
3. Evan Mobley

When the team does well, let’s consider these the “things these guys can improve upon”. None of them played badly, but they were the ones with the most room for improvement. First up, Isaac Okoro, who only scored eight points on 1-4 shooting. I was watching a clip online from the Wizards broadcast and when Okoro made his lone three of the game, the Wizards play-by-play Justin Kutcher said something to the effect of “when Okoro is hitting three’s, you know you’re in trouble”. Which is true. Okoro fits really well in this starting five, but that’s because the team doesn’t need him to score. If he can do so consistently, he’ll be really impressive.

Ricky Rubio is like a light switch in a poorly wired house, sometimes he’s on, sometime’s he’s off, some time’s he’ll shock you and if you’re really unlikely, he’ll be the reason the entire house burns down. When it comes to scoring the ball, Rubio looks like Steve Nash some nights and former teammate Johnny Flynn others. It’s a good thing he’s so good everywhere else.

For Evan Mobley, he played great defensively, but 3-12 on the night? That won’t do.

The Top Three Performers

1. Kevin Love
2. Darius Garland
3. Jarrett Allen

For the first point of the night, it was a toss-up between Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love. Markkanen had the placement originally until I looked deeper and saw that Love did nearly the same offensive line of stats as Marknannen but in 18 minutes fewer.

Darius Garland turned over his opportunity at three points and finished with the two-point spot tonight. Seven turnovers is never acceptable, it doesn’t matter if you score 32 points or not. That said, he did score 32 points and that’s good enough for this spot.

Lastly, Jarrett Allen gets three points on the night. The crazy efficient scorer dropped 28 points, 13 rebounds, two blocks and led the team in minutes. Allen is worth every single penny he’s being paid.

Yearly Standing:

1. Jarrett Allen (30 points)
2. Darius Garland (23 points)
3. Ricky Rubio (22 points)
4. *TIE* Lauri Markkanen/Cedi Osman(14 points)
5. Kevin Love (13 points)
6. Evan Mobley (12 points)
7. Dean Wade (3 points)
8. *TIE* Isaac Okoro/Dylan Windler (1 point)