CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have thoroughly dominated this first-round series and most of their team isn’t even playing that well.
So far this matchup with the Orlando Magic, which the Cavs lead 2-0, belongs to Jarrett Allen, who has 38 rebounds through two games compared to the Magic starters’ grand total of 49.
Allen’s 20 rebounds in Cleveland’s 96-86 win in Monday’s Game 2 are the second most by a Cav ever in a playoff game. He added 16 points and a game-high three blocks, after posting 16 points and 18 boards in Cleveland’s Game 1 win Saturday.
Allen has rendered Orlando’s defensive ace Jonathan Isaac unplayable. Magic coach Jamahl Mosley largely went away from Isaac in Game 2, having seen enough after 19 minutes, 3 points on 1-of-7 shooting and just four rebounds.
In a series that was going to be dominated by defense — primarily because Orlando is pretty good at playing it, and because it is also the worst offensive team in the NBA playoffs — Allen is the face of the Cavs’ dominance.
Figuring the Magic entered the series trailing the Cavs at the two guard spots (Donovan Mitchell is the best player on either team and Darius Garland, though off to a slow-ish start, is still giving Cleveland more than either Jalen Suggs or Gary Harris has given Orlando), and were hoping for a slight advantage on the wings with Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner that hasn’t yet materialized, the series could swing wildly in either direction based on who was better at center.
this man just recorded another playoff double-double.
everyone drop a “😁” for @_bigjayy_ in the replies. #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/rfFV90thDT
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 23, 2024
“I think about it, like, if I win my matchup, that’s one out of five things to be done,” Allen said. “Donovan wins his matchup, that’s two out of five. And then if I can do my part in terms of that, it helps propel us forward.
“Now everybody says I play a big part, integral part in terms of rebounding, blocking shots and all that, blah, blah, blah, defense. I just try to do my part and I think that helps a lot.”
Because Allen has been the most dominant player in the series so far, he’s earned the right to say the following: Asked if, given the way the first two games had gone, the Cavs had broken Orlando’s collective spirit, Allen said, “a little bit.”
“But we know when we go to their place, they’re going to be a completely different team,” Allen said. “They’re going to have their home crowd behind them. They don’t want it to be 3-0 (in favor of Cleveland). They’re just going to try to come at us like we’ve been doing to them.”
Allen is known and respected inside the Cavs locker room for his candor, even if his willingness to say what’s on his mind to outsiders occasionally places him in a less-flattering light.
Because this entire season has virtually been a referendum on Allen’s brutal self-reflection after last year’s playoff loss to the New York Knicks, let’s not dwell on those comments from 12 months ago again. Nor is it fair to draw an apples-to-apples comparison between the struggles Allen suffered in that Knicks series, and the pain he’s inflicting on Orlando currently.
Let’s just say Julius Randle and Mitchell Robinson are not walking through that door.
What is fair is to say Allen followed up one whopper of a disappointment with arguably the best NBA season he’s played. In 77 games, he averaged career highs in points (16.5) and assists (2.7), while leading the team with 10.5 rebounds per game — second most of his career. And in a series that was bound to be low scoring, where the best thing you could say about the offense being played is it has a face for radio, Allen continued his season-long trend of staying solid for his team.
“He’s a prideful individual,” Mitchell said. “And I think that the way it happened last year, you could see it’s a motivating thing. I think it goes without saying. I think he’s shown it himself to us all season. I had no doubt that this is who he would be.”
The Cavs have not trailed in this series and are up a combined 24 points between the two games. The Magic are a terrible 3-point shooting team and Cleveland has exploited it, baiting them into a 17-of-72 performance from deep.
Banchero and Wagner have been neutralized by Evan Mobley and Max Strus, who are playing harassing defense and beating their Orlando counterparts to the glass.
Mitchell followed up his 30 points with a game-high 23 on Monday. But this is where the back-slapping stops. Mitchell scored just 4 points in the second half of Game 2. Up by as many as 22 points, Cleveland scored just 16 in the fourth quarter, allowing itself to be bogged down by an Orlando switch to a more trapping and blitzing defense.
The Cavs are turning the ball over too much and shooting just 29 percent from 3-point range. Orlando has successfully goaded them into joining the rock-throwing contest.
The Magic have the right to adjust and play better in these next two games in Orlando, but there has been no convincing evidence to suggest they will come all the way back in this series. Since 1984, teams that go up 2-0 win 91.2 percent of the time, and the deficiencies the Magic have shown in the backcourt and on the 3-point line do nothing to make anyone think this series will end as an outlier.
Cleveland needs to use however many games are left in the first round to prepare for what’s likely next: an Eastern Conference semifinals against a Boston Celtics team that not only vigorously defends all over the court, but unleashes nightly aerial assaults from 3.
“I think there’s a level that we can continue to improve,” Mitchell said. “I think the fourth quarter, the last seven minutes or so, like, that can’t happen. You know what I mean? Like, we’re fortunate we got the win. We did a lot of good things. But the challenge is we got to fix that. You know what I mean? It starts with me.”
With Allen laying waste to Isaac, and backup center Wendell Carter Jr. not faring much better, Mosley played Mo Wagner as part of a small lineup in an effort to get back in the game.
Allen is going to be a difficult matchup for the Magic because of their inability to score. Slower, defense-dominated games allow the Cavs to leave Allen and Mobley on the floor together. Orlando won’t quite be able to run him off the floor.
Nevertheless, Allen has shown that, no, the playoff lights are no longer too bright for him. At least not right now, not in Cleveland.
“My challenge to him and my challenge to Evan is, like, you’ve done it twice,” Mitchell said. “Do it again (in Game 3) and again (in Game 4). Let’s do it on the road now. Do it when we don’t have a crowd. Let’s do it when they go on a run and that place is rocking. You know what I mean? So it’s a challenge to everybody, not just (Allen), but he’s been phenomenal.”
(Photo: Nick Cammett / Associated Press)
