Cavs Top 3: Jarrett Allen let his game make his case for the All-Star Game

Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love secure win for Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Cleveland Cavaliers got their win on the road in Charlotte, and it came in the most dramatic way possible. The Hornets, who were aided by the refs all night, mounted a late fourth-quarter comeback thanks in part to some shoddy play by the Cavs point guard. More on him later. The good guys saw awful games from everyone but Kevin Love and Jarrett Allen, the latter of whom made sure to show the NBA that he was in fact an All-Star.

After some screwy calls, one of which gave the Hornets three points off of a missed three-point shot, the Cavaliers found themselves in the dying moments of the game, with the ball in Love’s hands. Love forced up a bad shot but drew the foul and then sealed the game on free throws to get the 102-101 win.

The Cavs improved to 32-21 on the season.

Two of the top three should be obvious, but one player, Brandon Goodwin, nearly threw the game away in the fourth quarter. His five turnovers accounted for 42% of the team’s 12 total. No other player had more than two. His play was awful, and the last-second Love shot? Only happened because Goodwin chucked up a junker with about six seconds left on the clock.

He shot a terrible 28% from the floor and all four of his made shots were somehow from three-point range. That means he went 0-8 from inside the arc. Yikes, man. Yikes. I’m now in favor of making a big swing because Goodwin cannot keep being this team’s backup point guard. He may have had the third-best set of stats on the night but he won’t be making the Top 3.

Cleveland Cavaliers get the win behind Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love.

Cavs Top 3

1. Dean Wade
2. Kevin Love
3. Jarrett Allen

The first point will be controversial but I’m going with Dean Wade. After Cedi Osman went cold from the floor again, Dean Wade was brought in to help stabilize things. His all-around function in the offense allowed for a massive second-quarter and his defense is still surprisingly impactful. He finished the game with eight points, one rebound, one assist, and a box+/- of +2.

The two points of the game go to Kevin Love and any other night he’d be number one. He finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, a box+/- of +12. His shot splits were .388/.428/1.000  and finished with the second-most points in the game, and a team-high in box+/-.

Jarrett Allen gets the three points, because obviously. He single-handily kept the team in the game with his 29 points and 22 rebounds. The Hornets were able to get by him at times during the game, hence his box+/- of -5, but he was still impactful enough to keep the Cavaliers upright and ready for Love and his three-point shooting barrage.

Yearly Standing:

1. (*Tie*) Jarrett Allen/Darius Garland (55 points)
2. Kevin Love (48)
3. Evan Mobley (33 points)
4. (*Tie*) Lauri Markkanen/ Ricky Rubio (32points)
5. Cedi Osman (27 points)
6. Isaac Okoro (8 points)
7. Dean Wade (7 Points)
8. Lamar Stevens (4 points)
9. Rajon Rondo (3 points)
10. Brandon Goodwin (2 points)
11. Dylan Windler (1 point)