CLEVELAND (AP) — Jarrett Allen is usually laid back before games, including interacting with the crowd during the last minute of pregame warmups.
That wasn’t the case Sunday night as he played in his first Game 7.
Not only was the veteran center even more pumped up than usual, he had a game to remember.
Allen’s 22 points and 19 rebounds in Cleveland’s 114-102 victory over Toronto made him the second player in franchise history with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in a Game 7.
LeBron James had 35 points and 15 boards in Game 7 of the 2018 Eastern Conference final against Boston to get Cleveland into the NBA Finals for the fourth straight year.
“I had a great time doing it. Honestly, that was my first Game 7 I’ve ever played in,” said Allen, who had his 11th double-double in a playoff game and tied a postseason high in scoring. “It was a unique experience driving here from my house. It’s like, ‘I’m going to a Game 7, everything’s on the line.’ It’s just a different feeling that I’ve never experienced before. The crowd’s into it, I’m into it.”
After Cleveland went on an 11-2 run to close the first half and tie it at 49, Allen took over in the third quarter. The ninth-year center became the first player in franchise history to have a double-double in a playoff quarter as his 14 points and 10 rebounds in the third put the Cavaliers on top 87-68 going into the final 12 minutes.
Allen also had five offensive boards, one steal and a blocked shot as he played the entire third quarter.
“I just wanted to show my teammates that we could win this game,” he said. “Energy and effort: That’s what I believe win games. You do it on the defensive end, everything translates to offense.”
One of Allen’s baskets during the quarter was a fast-break dunk after Max Strus stole the ball from Barnes to make it 74-59.
“Man, he really took us over the top in the third quarter,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “The offensive rebounding, inside scoring. He was flying around, enthusiastic, I was thinking, ‘What got into this guy?’ He was ready for the moment.”
While most of the attention remains on Donovan Mitchell and James Harden, the Cavaliers got big contributions from others throughout the series.
Strus had 24 in Game 1, Evan Mobley had 23 points in Game 2 and then 25 points in Game 5 while Dennis Schroder had 19 points in 21 minutes in Game 5. All of those were Cavaliers victories.
“When Allen wants to go for 19 rebounds, yeah, that’s tough. It was Schroder before and in the first couple games, it was Strus. When they have that one guy show up, it’s tough,” said Toronto’s RJ Barrett, who had 23 points.
Allen missed most of March due to right knee tendinitis, but averaged 28.5 minutes of playing time in this series along with 11.4 points and 8.3 rebounds.
The Cavaliers are hoping to get the same from Allen when their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Pistons begins Tuesday in Detroit.
“That’s what it’s going to take in the playoffs,” Mobley said. “There’s a lot of guys that stepped up throughout this whole series. Every game is somebody else, and we’re going to need that night in and night out as we keep going.”
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