Jarrett Allen sets career high for points in a quarter with 17
Photo credit Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland, Ohio – The Cavs defeated the Atlanta Hawks 127- 119 and end their 3 game losing streak.
The Cavs came out in the first full of energy and fight. They started the game with a 14-3 run as they led by as much as 19 in the quarter.
The star of the evening was Jarrett Allen who had 17 points, a career high for him in a quarter. Allen would finish the first half with 21 points, 5 rebounds and a block.
Coach Bickerstaff mentioned in his pregame press conference that Donovan Mitchell was going to need to manage the game, and he did just that in the 1st half. Mitchell only scored 5 points, but had a career high 9 assists in the 1st half. Mitchell’s energy was noticeable as he was all over the floor, crashing the offensive glass, and creating steals in transition on defense. Instead of giving his teammates the energy for the dirty work, he set the example.
The Cavs hang their hat on their defense and that didn’t fail them early in the game. They only allowed 1 offensive rebound in the first half and 3 points off of their own turnovers.
The Cavs ended the first half with at 70-52 lead with two scorers in double digits (Jarrett Allen and Dean Wade)
The 3rd quarter proved to be problematic for the wine and gold. The Hawks cut the Cavs lead to as low as 7 thanks to an 18-7 run. The Cavs did finish the quarter strong pushing their lead back to 11 after Caris Levert scored the final 6 points of the quarter.
The 4th quarter saw Donovan Mitchell turn on the scoring machine, he scored 10 of his 22 points in the final period to go along with a career high 13 assists. When asked about Mitchell’s performance coach Bickerstaff praised his leadership in the winning effort.
“He did a great job of setting the table. He had 13 assists obviously but, I thought he read the room well, he read the game well, and he found his spots late you know when he needed to score and he went and made some big shots. So I think there was some shots there obviously that he typically makes more of and he’s just working that rhythm of, when to facilitate when to take those shots. But I thought his leadership from the way we needed to play and what we were talking about like it was going to be a team effort, to share the ball the way that he did and pull everybody and I thought he did a great job.”
Donovan Mitchell finished the night with 22 points, 13 assists 5 rebounds in 40 minutes. Around the 8 minute mark of the 4th quarter, Mitchell hit a 3 in back to back possessions to extend the Cavs lead to 13 and the Hawks didn’t get any closer than 7 before the 2 minute mark. With just over a minute remaining in regulation Caris Levert’s fast break layup sealed the victory for the wine and gold, putting them up by 11.
After Mitchell’s career night in assist, what else does he believe he needs to do while Garland and Mobley are out?
“To be able to do both. Some nights it’ll be scoring more, some nights to be on the boards more, some nights it’ll be assist more. It’s whatever the team needs and that’s kind of been my approach. We did it tonight and I’ve said this to you before, it’s great, it’s cool you did it once, but we got to do it again and again and again and it’s going to be tough. It’s going to be a lot for me to carry. But fortunately I have guys that make it easier on myself so it doesn’t feel that way. The guys that make plays and roles are going to continue to grow in their absence and then when they get back, pick right back where we left off.”
The Cavs secure a victory in the first game of a 4 game home stand. The Cavs improve to 14-12, they’ll face the Houston Rockets (13-9) December 18th.
