Getty Evan Mobley of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are doing something that seven years ago would have been unthinkable: put two big men on the floor together.
Think about it; the last time the Cavs were in the playoffs, Kevin Love (6’8) was the team’s go-to center. The Warriors, who built a dynasty by building going smaller, often deployed Draymond Green (6’6) as a stretch five.
The MVPs between 2015-2018 also indicate a smaller league; each winner was a guard. But the league is in a vastly different place today; the last four MVP winners have been bigs: Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
And the Cavaliers are following the trend, playing Evan Mobley (6’11) and Jarrett Allen (6’9) together. And as JB Bickerstaff noted after defeating the Nets Tuesday, the two excel together despite their size.
“Having that size and the way that they can play together, particularly when you saw it in the first half where we could play a lot of big to big because we had an advantage over the top with size,” Bickerstaff told reporters. “So, you know, those two guys together, because they are capable playmakers, they’re capable finishers, you know, they work really, really well together in small spaces.”
Mobley and Allen excelled against the Nets Tuesday, helping the Cavs to a 109-105 win. That mismatch, one Bickerstaff highlighted, could be a reason why the Cavs hope to see Brooklyn in the first round of the playoffs.
Cavaliers Hoping to See Nets in First Round of Playoffs
In a recent Q&A, Chris Fedor of cleveland.com reported which team the Cavs “privately” hope to see in the playoffs.
“No one inside the organization would say this publicly — and they shouldn’t. But multiple people I’ve spoken to recently are privately hoping for a Brooklyn matchup,” Fedor reported.
Fedor went on to explain what about the Nets makes them a desirable first-round opponent.
“Brooklyn was 32-20 at the time it dealt Kyrie Irving — a move that preceded Kevin Durant’s departure. While the Nets haven’t completely imploded since those two megadeals, their organizational ceiling has lowered considerably, and they no longer pose the same challenge in a seven-game series. The last time they looked — and consistently played — like a playoff-caliber team was when Irving and Durant were both there. The Nets are 7-11 over the last month-plus without those two superstars. They also have the most inexperienced coach of the potential first-round foes,” Fedor completed.
Add in the fact that no one on the Nets can match the interior skill of Allen or Mobley. While the team is stacked with wings like Mikal Bridges who might give Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland fits, the series has the potential to let Mobley and Allen thrive.
Jarrett Allen Not Worried About Cavs Narrative
While the Cavaliers boast a starting five as talented as almost any other team in the East, the team’s lack of playoff experience has haunted their expectations this season.
But Allen isn’t worried about that inexperienced narrative.
“[Outsiders] looked at us as a young team, and you don’t expect a lot from a young team,” Allen told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps last week. “You expect them to come in and try to figure themselves out.
“But I feel like we came in and made an impact on the league,” Allen finished.
The Cavaliers take on the Brooklyn Nets in a rematch of Tuesday’s win on Thursday night.