Stars are born when everyone is watching.
The biggest stages are where the most talented players in the world get the chance to prove themselves. Elevate your game, dominate the competition, show the most people possible that you deserve to be considered among the very best in the game. Players who have been excelling on League Pass get a chance to announce themselves to the world when all eyes are watching.
That was the opportunity before the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. It was the game of the year thus far, the 31-4 Cavaliers hosting the 30-5 Oklahoma City Thunder. Cleveland had won 10 games in a row, all by double-digits; the Thunder were winners of 15-straight, including victories over the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks just this week.
ESPN saw the matchup coming and flexed the game onto national television. Both teams kept their winning streaks alive. They also had 2 days off leading into the game, ensuring the teams would be rested and ready to play at an elite level.
The Game of the Year was incredible
The game itself didn't disappoint, with 30 lead changes and a close margin all game long before the Cavaliers pulled away in the final two minutes to win 129-122 in an absolutely epic game. The game deserved all of the hype and lived up to all of the hype.
The Oklahoma City Thunder executed the strategy of throwing double-teams at Donovan Mitchell, forcing the ball out of the hands of the team's best player. That worked in taking down the Knicks and Celtics in the two games prior.
It is a strategy that has also worked well against the Cavaliers in years past. Most famously, or perhaps infamously, the Knicks consistently doubled Mitchell in the playoffs two years ago, and the Cavs' bigs couldn't take advantage when Mitchell passed out.
In the aftermath of their loss to the Knicks that year, this group's first postseason experience, Jarrett Allen uttered a quote, saying that for the young team the "lights were too bright." Allen was raked over the coals for that quote, but it was an honest and accurate assessment for a team that needed seasoning.
Even as the Cavaliers got off to a truly historic start this season, even as they took down the other top teams in the East, even as they passed every test, the doubts lingered. Could the Cavs do it against the very best competition? What if teams took away their best actions? Were they a regular season house of cards waiting to collapse when the lights turned up?
The lights came on Wednesday night, and the Cavs answered the call. And who led the way? Not Mitchell, who was hounded by Lu Dort and doubled frequently all night long; he finished with just 11 points on 3-for-16 shooting. Darius Garland was fine with 18 points and seven assists. Evan Mobley has been incredible all year and he was again vs the Thunder.
The best player on the court, however? The one for whom the Thunder had no answers? The one who stepped up and announced himself to the watching world as a star and a player worth respecting? None other than Jarrett Allen.
Jarrett Allen dominated the Thunder
It is not often that Jarrett Allen is the best player for the Cavaliers, given that they have three All-Star level stars around him and he is not an offensive engine. Yet that was undeniably the case on Wednesday night.
Allen scored 25 points on a hyper-efficient 9-for-11 from the field, adding another seven free throws. He was fouled again and again as the Thunder tried to stop him from securing offensive rebounds, of which he had seven (and four defensive boards). If the Thunder's center, Isaiah Hartenstein, rotated to protect the rim against a driving Garland or a mashing Mobley, Allen took full advantage and created another possession.
During crunch time, Allen created multiple second chances for the Cavaliers, who were able to drain the clock and score enough to turn a tight game into a Cleveland win. No one could keep him off the glass.
What's more, Allen was also excellent finding teammates to score. He had six assists, part of 36 dimes the team had as a whole. Add in three steals, one block and plenty of crisp rotations and box-outs, and you get a player who had his best game of the season against the Cavs' best foe of the season.
In fact, by Game Score, a stat by Basketball Reference that grades a player based on their entire box score contributions, Allen not only had his best game of the season (and second-best of his career) but one of the 75-best scores of any player in the NBA this year, a list filled with superstar performances from the likes of Nikola Jokic, Victor Wembanyama and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Of those 75, however, only Allen did so with 11 shot attempts of fewer.
In essence, Allen found a way to maximize his impact without dominating the ball, something he has excelled at all season playing for this most elite example of ensemble casts. Without Allen, the Cavs don't beat the Thunder, and they are not 32-4.
Jarrett Allen may have punched his All-Star ticket
Conversations about how many All-Star players the Cavaliers deserve have been floating around, and they will increase in the next few weeks leading into the NBA's coaches selecting the All-Star Reserves. Donovan Mitchell will likely be a starter, and Evan Mobley appears to be a lock. Garland has a decent chance.
Could the Cavs really have four All-Stars? It has happened before, but not often, and the league / the league's coaches have tended to prioritize high-performing solo stars on bad teams over the third and fourth options on great teams. The Cavs, however, are an extra level of great.
Allen has dominant analytics, is playing for a team on pace to break the wins record, and just had his best game of the season on national television against the best defense in the league. That may not be enough to make it, but it certainly could propel him across the line.
The lights were just fine for Jarrett Allen on the biggest stage, and he announced himself as a star to be reckoned with.