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CLEVELAND — Reputations don’t change overnight, especially ones built through years of playoff failures.
The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t alter how they were perceived with a gutsy 114-102 Game 7 win over the Toronto Raptors. They did, however, show that they don’t have to be defined by previous postseason letdowns.
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Jarrett Allen was the exact opposite of the caricature he’s been made out to be. He was the toughest player on the court on Sunday with the way he thoroughly dominated the paint on both ends of the floor.
Defensively, Allen made it impossible for Toronto to finish inside.
He cut off both passing and driving lanes with his activity on defense, resulting in three blocks and two steals. Allen did this while grabbing 25% of missed shots himself when he was on the floor, translating to 19 rebounds.
This all added up to Cleveland having an impressive 101.4 defensive rating with him playing.
That impact carried to the other end of the floor as well.
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Allen played with a forcefulness that Toronto couldn’t match. Every cut, screen, or drive to the hoop was made with an effort that we don’t always see from Allen, but when he has few can stop.
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Head coach Kenny Atkinson saw a game like this coming with the way Allen looked in pregame intros.
“He was flying around,” Atkinson said. “Normally, he’s enthusiastic, but it was like, ‘Man, what got into this guy?’ But he was ready for the moment.”
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Allen’s game is momentum-based. When he starts to see a few go through, his energy and effort continue to rise. That’s what we saw, especially in the third quarter. He finished the evening with 22 points on 7-8 shooting in the restricted area with eight huge offensive rebounds.
There was a simple message still written on the Cavs’ whiteboard after Game 7: “Win the possession game again!” Underneath that was a box with +9 in it, signaling how much they won that…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/7-takeaways-cavs-game-7-100000995.html
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Publish date : 2026-05-04 10:00:00
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