Jarrett Allen is back as Cavs’ interior enforcer -- and the wins have followed

PHILADELPHIA - Cavs center Jarrett Allen prepared for his two-night gauntlet with a pair of giants by watching film, getting extra rest, doing some light reading and studying opponent tendencies. He wanted to be mentally prepared for the challenge.

It worked.

On Sunday night, Allen helped neutralize two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, limiting the triple-double threat to 18 points - Jokic’s lowest scoring output this season in a game where he wasn’t ejected. The atypical clunker snapped a streak of 12 consecutive 20-point performances to open the season. That same night, the Cavs outscored the NBA champion Denver Nuggets by an astonishing 42 points with Allen on the floor - the third highest plus-minus in franchise history.

Allen was at it again two nights later. This time, in a matchup against reigning MVP Joel Embiid.

In 35 exhausting minutes, Allen, who was forced to shun social media this offseason because of disparaging comments about his “soft” April playoff performance, finished with 26 points, 13 rebounds and three assists while relentlessly pestering Embiid at the other end of the floor.

Allen’s all-around impact helped Cleveland avoid elimination from the in-season tournament.

“Jarrett has been great,” veteran Tristan Thompson told cleveland.com while munching on some well-earned postgame chicken wings following Cleveland’s hard-fought 122-119 overtime win against the 76ers Tuesday night . “The other night, he took the challenge against Jokic and got him frustrated and made him quit.

“With Embiid, it was about attacking him on both ends. Jarrett was getting to the rim, getting lobs and finishing around the rim. Making Embiid work on defense. That got Embiid frustrated as well because most big men, we hate when our guy scores. Then on the defensive side, J.A. was fronting him and making him work two percent more. One thing about playing defense in this league, if you make the guy you are matched up with, who is a go-to scorer, if he has to work extra possessions, that helps you at the end of the game where a shot might be short or you make a mental error. Seemed like that happened with Embiid late.”

Embiid still got his points. A team-high 32 of them, to be exact. But this is the NBA. There’s no stopping these elite brutes. The goal is to make it tough. Allen - and the Cavs - did just that.

Embiid went 9 of 21 (42.9%) from the field - his third-worst shooting percentage of the season. He also committed a near season-high six turnovers while fouling out in the closing seconds of overtime. To Thompson’s previous point, Embiid was just 3 of 10 in the fourth quarter and OT - although he repeatedly bullied his way to free-throw line.

It’s about the best anyone can do against the NBA’s leading scorer.

“Jarrett is a hell of a player in a lot of different ways,” Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff boasted. “He’s fearless. He takes challenges. He knows how to impact the game on both ends of the floor. He does it for his teammates. Not a selfish bone in his body. He knows he has to do a specific job. A lot of times it’s a thankless job. They don’t put stops in a stat sheet. They don’t put denials in a stat sheet. He knows what is necessary to help us win. He goes and does it.”

Allen missed most of training camp, all preseason and the first five games because of an achy bone bruise in his ankle. The Cavs went just 2-3 without him, tumbling toward the bottom of the defensive rankings. Since Allen’s debut on Nov. 3, even with the afro-sporting center not initially looking like himself while trying to work his way back into shape, Cleveland is 6-3 and currently riding a four-game winning streak. That’s in spite of being undermanned for many of those contests, including Tuesday when the Cavs left three players (Donovan Mitchell, Isaac Okoro and Ty Jerome) back home and were unable to dress sixth man Caris LeVert because of knee soreness.

There’s a reason why many inside the organization believe the franchise’s trajectory officially changed when the indispensable Allen arrived years ago.

He has given the Cavs an identity. He embodies everything they are about. He’s integral on offense because of his menacing screens, vertical spacing, short roll game, underrated playmaking and the constant threat of finishing lobs. Along with frontcourt partner Evan Mobley, the Cavs are building one of the league’s most lethal big-to-big connections.

“They’ve gotten so good playing that game and it creates a different kind of spacing,” Bickerstaff said. “I think they have figured it out and we would much rather have them both on the floor at the same time than not. As long as you put the right pieces around them, that tandem can be successful together.”

While Mobley is the unicorn-like defender, equally comfortable on the perimeter and near the rim, Allen is the team’s defensive anchor, allowing the Cavs to deploy Mobley as the roamer and back side helper. When Allen isn’t around, Mobley’s responsibilities change - and Cleveland’s defense suffers. The unique defensive system is built around having elite rim protectors capable of erasing mistakes.

Since Allen’s return, the Cavs have unsurprisingly ascended the rankings. In this eight-game Allen-led stretch, the Cavs have a top 10 defense, much closer to last year’s suffocating style. There’s more size. There’s more activity. Shots are contested. Finishes are tougher. Fewer communication breakdowns. The Cavs are back to walling off the paint and forcing opponents out of their comfort zones.

“My leadership role - we always talk about it - I’m not the most vocal guy on the team,” Allen admitted. “I want people to follow the effort I give. That’s my little thing I can give to the team.”

Going into Sunday’s showdown with Jokic, energy was Allen’s primary focus. Same with Tuesday night. He wanted to wear down his bigger, burlier counterparts, outlast them.

The Cavs were plus-16 in the paint. They outrebounded Philadelphia 56-44. They limited the Sixers to 41.7% from the field and 31.4% from 3-point range. Allen wasn’t a plus-42 this time. He might not have outplayed Embiid per se. But Allen’s fingerprints were still all over the latest victory.

“Jarrett has been playing great,” Mobley said. “Jarrett holds them up and my job is to help on the back side with that. I feel like me and him offensively have been playing well together too. Building good chemistry together. That was a battle tonight. The first half we were throwing ‘bows and the second half they came at us. We just had to withstand their runs. Made some mistakes down the stretch. But came out with a win.”

Allen is back. So are the victories. It’s been that way since stealing him from Brooklyn in a 2021 three-team trade.

“We’re really good. I think a lot of people knew that already. We just had to find it and come together,” point guard Darius Garland said. “Shows that we’re really resilient, we’re really tough and we’re not a pushover.”

Neither is Allen - contrary to popular belief. Need a reminder of his importance? Look at the last two nights. Or just consider how the team decays without him.

In 251 minutes this season with Allen on the court, the Cavs have an offensive rating of 115.0 - the equivalent of the high-powered Nuggets who rank top 10 in that category - and a defensive rating of 107.3, which would put them third. With him off the court, those numbers drop to 108.7 on offense - the equivalent of the 27th-ranked Chicago Bulls - and 110.9 on defense.

“Whatever’s happening, Jarrett’s going to give his best effort,” Bickerstaff said. “He’s going to go out and he’s going to try to execute the game plan. Some of these guys are really good and just have good nights, but it’s not going to be from a lack of effort or execution by Jarrett.”

Following one of Allen’s best performances - the first time scoring that many points since Feb. 4, 2022, and the only time this season grabbing double-digit boards - he handed the team’s Junkyard Dog chain to Garland and went straight to the weight room for a late-night lifting session.

Even after back-to-back battles with two of the league’s best, there’s no time to rest. The challenges keep coming. Miami’s Bam Adebayo on Wednesday and then Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis over the weekend.

But as the last two nights have shown, Allen will be ready. That’s his job for this team and he relishes it.

“It’s enjoyable,” Allen said. “It’s a gauge to see where you are at defensively against the best.”

So far, so good.