Jarrett Allen dominates with 29 point 16 boards
Photo credit David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Cleveland, Ohio – The Cavaliers held on to beat the Spurs 117-115 after they squandered a 16 point 4th quarter lead.
The Cavs hosted the San Antonio Spurs for the final home game of a 3 game home stand.
The Cavs started the game very sluggish and the Spurs jumped out to a 13-5 lead to open the game. The Cavs struggled to contain the Spurs offensively. San Antonio shot 60% from behind the arc and 68% from the field in the opening quarter.
Despite the Cavs’ slow start, they closed the quarter strong after Caris Levert nailed a 3-pointer over former Cavalier Cedi Osman. Then Levert stole the inbound pass to knock down a pull-up three before the end of the quarter.
The Cavs trailed by as much as 9 but entered the 2nd quarter only down 4.
In the 2nd quarter, the Cavs’ defense looked similar to much of the 1st quarter, allowing the Spurs plenty of open shots. However, the Spurs didn’t shoot as well in the 2nd quarter. The Cavs held them to 38% (5/13) from 3-point land.
The wine and gold’s offense struggled for most of the first half until the bench squad came to life. After the Spurs pushed the lead back up to 8 the Cavs went on a 19-8 run to take their first lead of the game 49-46.
The star of the 2nd quarter was Jarrett Allen, he scored 11 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. Co-star Sam Merrill poured in 12 points off the bench including going 3/6 from behind the arc. Those 2 combined for 23 of the Cavs 34 points in the quarter. The Cavs went on to lead at halftime 62-56.
The Cavs’ offensive woes were on display in the first half as they only had 2 players score in double-digits (Allen and Merrill).
Donovan Mitchell had a quiet first half, he played almost 17 minutes but only scored 6 points. Despite a cold shooting streak, he did have 5 assists in the 1st half.
The 3rd quarter saw the same issues from the 1st half continue to follow the Cavs. The Spurs shot 50% from the floor in the quarter and outscored the Cavs for the quarter to only trail by 4 entering the 4th.
The 3rd quarter wasn’t all bad, 6th man Caris Levert carried the Cavs on the offense, scoring 13 of his 23 points in the quarter. Levert used some late-quarter magic again after the Spurs double-teamed Sam Merrill he found Levert in the corner who nailed a 3 at the buzzer to give the Cavs an 88-84 lead.
The final period saw the Cavs start the quarter scoring 5 unanswered points before the Spurs called a timeout to regroup. The Spurs after the timeout went on a 7-0 run thanks to back-to-back turnovers from the Cavs to bring the game to 93-91.
With just under 10 minutes left in regulation, the Cavs went on a 18-4 run and increased their lead to 16 111-95. From there it looked like the Cavaliers would cruise to victory. However, the Spurs didn’t quit. The Cavs were held to just 10 points during the final 5:47 of regulation and the they were held scoreless the final 2 minutes of the game. The Spurs made a valiant effort thanks to Victory Wembanyama who had 8 points in the final quarter and finished with 24 points 9 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.
Donovan Mitchell who’s played with another French big man Rudy Gobert, stated in post game that Wembanyama is as advertised.
“He’s as advertised. I don’t know if he’s gonna fill out like Giannis or what it’ll be, but right now he’s doing things that…. you can tell he’s young, so he’s doing things that you can see what he will ultimately be, the competitor he is. I saw it against the Bucks, seeing it tonight, never stopping. He’s already a defensive monster. The one [possession] where he took the ball and I had to shoot it in the corner. Pretty sure he was three or four feet away from me. Most bigs have the wingspan to get there and play the lob with JA. So those are things, just disruptive defensively that he already has. I’ve already played with Rudy [Gobert]. To see him and to see someone bigger and longer than him, I think it’s pretty wild.”
The Spurs rally continued until the final seconds, the Spurs cut the Cavs lead to 4 with 52 seconds to go after Wembanyama knocked down 2 free throws. The Cavs next 2 possession resulted in turnovers and the Spurs turned one of thoes turnovers to points when Wembanyama scored a layup to make it a 2 point game 117-115 wit just 41 seconds in regulation.
Donovan Mitchell with a chance to put the game away missed a pull up jumper that would’ve given the Cavs a 4 point lead with under 20 seconds to go. Instead, the Spurs had a chance to tie the game or take the lead but thanks to a bad pass from Jeremy Sochan the Spurs lost the ball out of bounds and possession went to the Cavs.
With just 8 seconds the Cavs inbounded the ball to Sam Merrill he would drive to the paint, and he’d dish it off to Levert whose layup attempt was blocked by Wembanyama. With seconds on the clock, Sochan would corral the loose ball and with a chance for the win, he heaved a 30 foot 3 pointer that was no good.
The Cavs went on to beat the Spurs 117-115. Coach Bickerstaff in postgame gave credit to his big man Jarrett Allen for knowing what the team was missing and what they needed.
“He felt his teammates go down, he knew he had to do more. It also obviously presents more opportunities for the ball to be in his hands for him to be a part of it. Just on his sheer load. It’s not being split. So to me, it’s a credit to him, understanding what we’re missing and what we need and then him going out and just trying to do whatever he can to help the team win.’
Jarrett Allen finished with a game high 29 points and 16 rebounds.
Coach Bickerstaff was asked, does he believe Jarrett Allen deserves to be an All-Star. He quickly answered with ‘he’s gotta be’.
“He is, in my opinion. He’s gotta be. I don’t know, you know, you talk about the Embiids of the world, obviously, but I don’t know any big man, any center, who’s playing better than Jarrett Allen. I don’t know anybody in that frontcourt position who’s playing better than Jarrett Allen right now. It’s deserving. What he did tonight, both sides of the ball. We highlight impact on winning along with production, and Jarrett Allen is it.”
The Cavs finished their current home stand 3-0 and now will travel to Paris, France to take on the Brooklyn Nets. What does coach Bickerstaff want his team to take from the experience?
“We’re extremely fortunate to be a part of to represent not only the Cavaliers, but the NBA on an international scale is a big compliment to this group of guys. We need to go out and handle it the right way and handle it the right way means going out and being as competitive as we can on Thursday for the world to see. But you know, you want the guys to embrace the opportunity to go to Paris, not everybody’s had the opportunity to go there, spend time there. Learn, see the history, experience it. We’ll try to find a way to manage both of those. But you know, life is more than basketball. And we try to preach that to our guys. So we want them to experience and enjoy the moment as well.”
The Cavs improve to 21-15, the play the Brooklyn Nets (16-20) playing the league’s third regular-season game in Paris at the Accor Arena on Thursday, January 11, 2024.
