James Harden Has Hilariously Blunt Jarrett Allen Take After Four Games Together

The Cavaliers’ big trade-deadline move looks inspired early.

The Cavaliers have won all four games with guard James Harden, defying trade-deadline skeptics. | David Richard-Imagn Images

If four games can be called an era, the James Harden era is going swimmingly for the Cavaliers.

On Thursday, Cleveland moved to 4-0 since acquiring Harden from the Clippers for guard Darius Garland and a second-round draft pick on Feb. 4. The Cavaliers’ 112–84 dismantling of the Nets included a 16-point, five-rebound, nine-assist outing from Harden and a double-double from center Jarrett Allen.

That performance prompted a comically frank take from Harden—who was technically traded for Allen in Jan. 2021—on his new teammate.

“I can say—he’s better than I thought he was, in the sense of he’s able to catch the ball and finish around the rim with both hands,” Harden told reporters via Tony Pesta of Fear the Sword. “He has so much touch around the rim. I think that’s one of the most underrated parts of his game.”

Allen—an All-Star in 2022 and the NBA’s leader in field-goal percentage a year ago—has made it to a sixth year with Cleveland despite seemingly eternal questions about his fit with forward Evan Mobley.

Perhaps the rejuvenation of the Cavaliers will quiet those questions, though whether Cleveland can keep up its current winning streak against contenders like the Thunder (Sunday), Knicks (Tuesday), and Pistons (Feb. 27 and March 3) remains to be seen.

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