Moving forward, Jarrett Allen is one of the core players for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and it’s nice to know that he’s a guy that’s set to stick around long-term. Following him being locked up for the long haul prior to the 2021-22 campaign, he had a career season in his first full year with the Cavaliers last year, and he’s made his presence felt this season.
Allen is one of the game’s best rim protectors and rim runners/rolling threats, and his touch has continued to get better over his time in the league, which began with the Brooklyn Nets, who later traded him to Cleveland early in the 2020-21 season.
As for this year, Allen hasn’t had quite the same raw production as last year, when he had 16.1 points per outing, but he’s had 14.2 per outing thus far, and has averaged 10.7 rebounds. He’s had 1.3 blocks per game as well, just under his career average of 1.4.
On both ends, Allen is a true difference-maker for the Cavaliers, and his unselfish play, on-floor leadership and physicality all are crucial for the Wine and Gold when he’s in there. In a batch of recent prior games, though, the Cavs had been missing that with him out for five contests because of a lower back contusion.
Allen has been back in the Cavaliers’ last three games, fortunately, in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers and a loss to the Sacramento Kings, along with Cleveland’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s been good to see him in there.
So how has Allen fared in his return for the Cavs of late?
Allen’s clearly made a significant impact for the Cavaliers, as he typically does, and it’s apparent that Cleveland is more disruptive when he’s out there defensively.
For a snapshot of his traditional splits, he had these numbers in the three games since he’s been back, of which the Cavs have won two of, as noted:
- 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting (with 22 points in the first half), to go with 11 rebounds and three steals, and he was a plus-21 vs. LA
- Nine points on two-of-five shooting, and eight boards, to go with two blocks; he was a minus-10 vs. Sacramento
- Then Allen had 21 points on seven-of-nine shooting, and tacked on 11 rebounds was a plus-six vs. OKC
Allen’s rolling and diving to the rim was crucial for Cleveland in that win over the Lakers, albeit with Anthony Davis only in for nine games, because of flu-like symptoms. Even with that caveat, Allen’s activity inside in the first half set the tone for much of the rest of the way, and despite him not getting many shots up in the second half, his rim pressure was still felt, and his screening on and off-ball was big.
But, he did have two turnovers in that Lakers game, and in that Kings game, Allen having five turnovers was something that cannot happen, given his role. At times he can be a bit prone to those after trying to get his spots in the lane, or occasionally in secondary transition when scanning for outlets.
That said, Allen’s interior play continues to get better, as has been demonstrated in extended stretches in these three games in which he’s been back, and despite him only going two-of-five from the field versus Sacramento, he was five-of-six from the foul line. And while he shouldn’t be completely absolved of his turnovers in that loss to the Kings, Allen did register two blocks on the other end, and even with Domantas Sabonis having his numbers, and he made some great passes, Allen was making him work for everything as a scorer.
Furthermore, in that OKC game, Allen and Evan Mobley were ultimately the difference in the contest as well, with their activity on both ends of the floor, and those two made plays in the open floor, too, which helped convert defense to offense. Granted, Allen shooting only seven-of-13 from the foul line against the Thunder was suboptimal, but with his two-way contributions in that one, it’s difficult to be overly critical there.
The energy Allen, in particular, has been playing with since he’s returned has definitely been something that’s popped of late as well.
All in all, it’s been great to see The Fro back, and it’s evident that he’s one of Cleveland’s most important players now and looking onward. There have been some hiccups here and there, however, he’s mostly been effective.