The Orlando Magic had rushed things and executed them flawlessly. They had their defense locked down and were rushing to make stops. They forced a contested shot, giving themselves a brief period of respite until they could catch up.
Not even they did.
The ball struck the corner without any Magic players in sight after bouncing off the back iron. Though he was boxing out beneath the rim, Jalen Suggs was too slow to respond. Jarrett Allen arrived earlier than expected. Max Strus was on a roll when Allen sent the ball to him as the defense fell apart.
He missed, and the Magic were unable to stop Allen, who recovered to pass the ball to Evan Mobley for a simple layup.
Good defense turned into a missed opportunity. All because Allen was the first to the glass. And the Cavs reaped the rewards to keep the Magic at bay.
Allen pulled down nine offensive rebounds in Cleveland’s Game 2 win, including those two. For a total of 15 offensive rebounds, the Cavaliers converted 18 second-chance points.
Cleveland’s 97-87 triumph and 2-0 series lead came about as a result of it being the game-changing factor. Allen’s internal presence has shaped the series.
Allen remarked following Monday’s game, “I think about it like if I win my matchup, that’s one out of five things to be done.” “That’s two out of five if Donovan [Mitchell] wins his match. That helps move us forward if I can contribute in that way. Everyone agrees that I was heavily involved in defense, rebounding, and shot blocking. I merely attempt to play a small part. And that’s quite beneficial.
Allen has defeated his opponent and more. In Game 2, he pulled down 20 rebounds, compared to his 18 in Game 1 on Saturday. In that part of the game, Allen has owned it.
Cleveland may not have fully owned the glass, based on the raw figures. However, the Magic need every rebound they can get in a game where they have so few possessions and so little scoring opportunities. They are unable to do so because of Allen.
With a 30.6 offensive rebound rate, the Cavaliers have controlled the glass. The Magic have also performed admirably, grabbing 28.2 percent of offensive rebounds. Additionally, Cleveland’s edge in second-chance points is only 24–22.
That being said, the Magic averaged 14.4 second-chance points per game while giving up just 12.1 and had the second-best defensive rebounding percentage in the league at 73.7 percent. Cleveland’s ability to take control of the series has been greatly aided by Allen’s presence grabbing offensive rebounds.
For a club unable to muster much offense in this series, it is at least discouraging. Effort has a major role in rebounding. Allen also chases for every dropped ball. It appears like the Cavs are always the first team to grab important rebounds.
Keeping Allen off the glass is a group effort. And Allen is taking advantage of the lapses.
“I wouldn’t even say it’s just on the bigs,” Franz Wagner remarked following Game 2 on Monday. Most of the time, we swap. The smaller players with Jarrett Allen’s back under the hoop. All five must just make a full recovery. Not much more that anyone can say, really. We must simply take action.”
In Game 2, it was evident how Allen affected the glass.
It’s not just about him rebounding, though. He is a symbol of it since the Magic squad depends so much on entering the interior when he locks out the paint.
In the Playoffs, the Magic are only scoring 34.0 points in paint per game, down from their previous average of 51.8 points per game. With Allen on the court for the Cavaliers thus far in the series, their defensive rating is 89.3 (Allen was at 110.7 in the regular season). With Allen on the court, the Magic have averaged 25.0 points in the paint per game.
The Cavaliers have shut off one of the main ways that the Magic create offense, thanks to Evan Mobley’s movement in the paint and Jarrett Allen’s ability to grab rebounds.
Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff praised the player following Monday’s victory, saying, “He’s been phenomenal understanding what is necessary and going and doing whatever he can to impact it.” We anticipated that the interior would win this series. We were aware that we would need to excel at the boards. He has made it his mission to ensure that we prevail in that struggle on consecutive nights.
His work is the reason we are here. Inside, it’s not easy. He reaches for the basketball in spite of all of the grabbing, clutching, and hitting, whether it’s to close off plays with a defensive rebound or to get offensive rebounds to give us more possessions.”
Because of his performance in last year’s playoffs, Allen has been the Cavaliers’ main emphasis this season. The Cleveland Cavaliers are tormenting the Orlando Magic in what is effectively their first-ever playoff game, while the New York Knicks humiliated the Cavs in the Playoffs the previous year.
In the five-game series with the Knicks last year, Allen averaged just 9.4 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Although this was not his first playoff experience, Cleveland’s struggles on the glass and in the inside stood out because of their significant size investment.
Allen faced this as the challenge in this series. And one that, given his season average of 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game, every Cavaliers player anticipated he would answer to and deliver.
Play is being dictated by Allen and the Cavaliers.
“We discovered that during our initial playoff run,” Allen remarked following Monday’s victory. “You will wear down the opposition team and force them to make mistakes if you are physical with them and make every play difficult. We are aware that their squad will be entirely different when we visit. Their home crowd will be cheering them on. They do not wish to lose 3-0. The same manner that we have approached them, they will do the same.”
The Magic need to figure out how to reply.
As Jonathan Isaac has only started at center twice and three times this season, the team’s center position is in turmoil.
It did not work out for the Magic that Isaac would spread the floor to pull Allen out of the paint and hold his own defensively on the interior (he is still blocking shots, for what that is worth). With one for seven in Game 2, Isaac is only 3 for 11 from three.
As a result of Allen’s ability to stay in the lane, this Magic squad is discouraged from trying to enter the lane or contest the paint.
“He’s just in the paint just dominating,” Evan Mobley remarked following the game on Monday night. “It really defies explanation. He enters, works there, completes his tasks, and leaves. It is anticipated of him to do this. He’s one of those players who can perform that consistently throughout the night. All we ask is that he continue to lead by example and that everyone improves to the same level as him.
I think that sums up Allen and the Cavaliers’ supremacy the best. For extended periods of time, the Magic continue to play strong defense, limiting the Cavaliers to fewer than 100 points each game. On the other hand, Cleveland has performed significantly better than Orlando’s players have. The players of the Cavaliers are winning their games.
Wendell Carter and Paolo Banchero both stated during Monday’s game that Orlando merely needs to throw a body on Jarrett Allen to neutralize him on the glass. The Magic need to figure out a method to complete these plays and possessions.
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