Jarrett Allen becoming larger piece to Cavs offense during win streak

On Feb 12, 2023

Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (31) shoots against Chicago Bulls forward DeMar DeRozan (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

CLEVELAND — Like a token in the classic detective game Clue, Jarrett Allen has closely resembled a ‘blunt force object’ lately.

For the last four games the script has read, like someone reading off their final declaration of person, location, object: Allen, in the paint, with the (left handed) hook.

There’s no mystery there, even if opposing defenses have had trouble figuring how to stop Allen’s sudden scoring surge.

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Including Saturday’s comeback win against the Chicago Bulls, Allen has logged four consecutive 20-point games for the first time in his career, scoring 23 points and 20 points twice. He also added 18 points in each of the Cavs’ two games prior to this stretch.

Allen entering Saturday averaging 14.5 points per game and has been a consistent option within the Cavs’ offense. But lately, that has seen a severe uptick, as Allen has featured a more diverse offensive profile in leading the Cavs to a six-game winning streak.

“There’s a desire and a blunt force that he’s playing with,” said Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff. “He’s attacking the rim ferociously, putting people on notice where people don’t even want to get between him and the basket anymore. His teammates are doing a great job of finding him, but there’s an aggression that he’s been playing with that I think it’s been helping him, but it’s a second- third- fourth-effort spark that he’s playing with that has been giving him a chance.”

Allen noted Saturday night he’s been playing a bit looser, which has been working. He’s also thrown in some new moves, including an euro step, and the Cavs have been all for it.

“I want to say just the encouragement for my teammates,” Allen said when asked what’s allowed him to play with a looser style, before adding with a laugh,” I don’t remember what game, but I started doing different moves that I don’t usually do and everybody kept hyping me up. So, why not just keep going with it, and it’s been working well for me.”

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With Allen’s scoring uptick adding to the scoring totals for Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, the Cavs have won five of their six games during this winning streak by double digits, with the lone outlier being Saturday’s eight-point win over the Bulls, which came on the second night of a back-to-back in which the Cavs didn’t return home until the early hours of the morning. And the additional benefit of why Allen’s increased output has been so key for Cleveland: anything that disallows teams to key in on Mitchell or Garland is a major plus for the Cavs offense.

“Well, when he is out there euro stepping and hitting [shots] you know, [you] try to find a way to give him the ball every time,” Mitchell said. “It makes it tough because it’s like, all right, you get the ball out of my hands or Darius’ hands, and [now] you got to deal with [Allen]. And then you got to deal with Evan [Mobley] cutting from the weak side. So it’s really pick your poison.”