When Darius Garland and Evan Mobley went down with injury, the Cavaliers seemed to be in a tough spot. However, Jarrett Allen is more than making up for Mobley’s absence. Here’s a look at Jarrett Allen’s 2024 Emergence
When looking at Allen’s performances, it’s clear he’s taken it up a notch over the last seven games. Before Cleveland’s game in Chicago (23 December, 2023) Allen averaged 14.8 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. Since that game in Chicago, Allen is averaging 21 points, 15.7 rebounds, and five assists per game. Throw an average of one steal, one block and only 1.4 turnovers a game in and Allen is looking phenomenal.
Highlight performances in this seven game stretch include a 24 point and 23 rebound outing in Dallas, a 30 point and 12 rebound game versus Milkwauke, a 17 point and 19 rebound game versus Washington and a 29 point and 16 rebound performance versus San Antonio.
When Mobley went down with injury, Allen was expected to make up for his absence. Although he started off slow, he’s quickly come into his own and has been dominant.
This season, in the 16 games Allen played with Mobley on the court, he averaged 13.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.6 steals, 1.1 blocks and 1.9 turnovers per game. In the 15 games without Allen he’s averaged 16.3 points, 11.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.8 blocks and 1.6 turnovers.
Allen’s only statistic with Mobley off the court that isn’t an improvement is his blocks per game, but this isn’t necessarily indicative of him playing worse defensively.
When looking over the league’s recent performances, Allen is among elite company. Over the last seven games the only centers to average 21 or more points (other than Allen) are Nikola Jokic (21.6), Jarren Jackson Jr (22.2), Bam Adebayo (22.4), Domantas Sabonis (23) and Alperen Sengun (24.3).
When looking at which centers have averaged 15.7 or more rebounds over the last seven games, other than Allen, it’s only Andre Drummond with 17.4.
This means that Allen is the only center that’s averaged 21 points and 15.7 rebounds over the last seven games. And, although the players listed are scoring or rebounding slightly more than Allen, they’re all averaging more turnovers. Drummond is averaging 1.9, Sengun and Adebayo are averaging 2.4, Jokic is averaging 3.4 and Sabonis is averaging 5 compared to Allen’s 1.4.
When looking at stats alone, Allen might be the most effective center in the NBA over the last seven games. While this is a small sample size, it is promising for both the near future and when fully healthy.
Allen and the Cavaliers play next in Paris on Thursday (January 11) against the Brooklyn Nets at 2:00 PM.
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Featured photo courtesy of NBA.com
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