With frontcourt sidekick Evan Mobley sidelined, Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen has pumped up his production, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com notes. He was challenged by coach J.B. Bickerstaff to make it happen.
“He knows everything that I can do,” Allen said. “He just wanted me to do it at a higher level.”
Allen is averaging 22.2 points, 15.8 rebounds and 5.8 assists over the last four games and has scored in double digits in the last eight games.
“Jarrett’s one of those guys who just goes about his business that sometimes people forget how impactful and how good he is,” Bickerstaff said. “He doesn’t beat his chest, he doesn’t draw attention to himself, but we know how valuable he is to us, and I just wanted to make sure that he understood that if he wins his battle, we win the game. That’s the challenge for him.”
We have more from the Central Division:
- Zach LaVine practiced once again with the Bulls’ G League team, the Windy City Bulls, on Tuesday with positive results, according to coach Billy Donovan, K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago tweets. It’s possible that LaVine will return to action with the NBA club as early as Friday but it’s too early to tell, Donovan added. LaVine, a potential major trade piece, hasn’t played since Nov. 28 due to a foot injury.
- With Bulls center Nikola Vucevic also out with an injury, 6’4” Terry Taylor has seen some time at center in Donovan’s small ball lineups. Taylor says he doesn’t mind banging with much bigger opponents, Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun Times writes. ‘‘I’ve actually played it my whole life, so I’m kind of used to it,’’ Taylor said. ‘‘I’m used to people not being sure about me playing center just because of my size. But I’ve got the heart and the will to go out there and compete against anybody. They’re gonna be hunting me and trying to get me to foul and make mistakes and just trying to get me off my rocker.’’ Taylor’s $2MM contract is fully guaranteed if he’s still on the roster on Jan. 10.
- The Pistons finally snapped their record breaking 28-game losing streak against the depleted Raptors on Saturday night. They followed that up with an embarrassing outing in Houston on Monday in which they allowed 47 points in the third quarter and lost by 23 points. Second-year guard Jaden Ivey was perplexed by the team’s effort, James Edwards III of The Athletic relays. “This is painful to go through. We’re in a season where we’re losing a ton of games, and it’s like … it comes down to pride at the end of the day,” he said. “The moment you step out there on the floor, ‘What can you do to help the team?’ both defensively and offensively. “In the third quarter, they were coming down and scoring. We need to wall up and chest the ball. It comes down to pride. We didn’t have that (Monday).”