Jarrett Allen addressed the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Game 1 defeat in the Eastern Conference finals with a focus on the late-game breakdown that shifted momentum in favor of the New York Knicks.
Speaking during practice on Wednesday, Allen said, “We did a lot of good for three and a half quarters. It’s the last six minutes of the game that turned it around and let them come back and win.”
He added that the group must absorb the lesson without letting it define the series, saying, “We have to look at the positives.”
Allen pointed to execution across most of the game, stating, “There are a lot of negatives that we can point out just from how we ended the game, but I feel like we played three good quarters of basketball and that was most of the game. We have to build on that and try to replicate it.”
Much of the discussion also centered on containing Jalen Brunson after his 38-point performance. Allen said, “Try to help out. He’s an amazing player and we all know that he can make amazing shots. We all saw it. But it’s a team effort to stop him.”
On the team’s response to adversity, Allen emphasized resilience, saying, “Just understanding that we didn’t have the best effort last night. We didn’t have the best outcome and the resiliency is going to show tomorrow and how we come out.”
He expanded on the effort concerns, stating, “I just feel like we could have done more. Obviously a lot of things happened out of our control. He hit some incredible shots towards the end of the stretch. Just come out with more energy and effort to try to stop it more.”
Allen also addressed defensive accountability, particularly around coverage on James Harden actions in Game 1. He said, “He knows that he didn’t have the best showing on defense. He understands the situation that he was put in, but I think he’s already past that.”
He continued, “We’re all here for him and he knows that he doesn’t even have to look back to know that we’re there backing him up.”
The Cavaliers forward also referenced past playoff experience, stating, “It happened to us on Christmas as well. It’s not the first time we’ve been a part of a loss where a crushing blow like that has happened.”
Attention then turned to execution and responsibility within the group. Allen said, “We all made mistakes towards the end. I made mistakes not rotating. Everybody knows that they could have done something a little better and there was just a lot of people speaking up saying that they could have done better.”
He also dismissed fatigue as a factor, explaining, “Not really. We’ve been playing every single other day for the past three weeks or so. Fatigue, no. Mental fatigue, not really.”
Discussing defensive structure against New York, Allen noted the team’s reliance on switching schemes. He said, “Switch-heavy works in certain moments. He hit some tough shots. At the end of the day I know that’s where it’s all going about the switch with Jalen Brunson, but you have to believe in what you have when the switch-heavy approach is successful.”
Allen highlighted the team’s collective defensive identity, adding, “Just our size and everybody has the ability to defend. We have people who’s going to back up. Like say Evan gets blown by which rarely happens. I have his back and Dean has my back and so on.”
On the offensive side, Allen acknowledged the impact of defensive lapses on execution, stating, “I think we just got caught up in the things that were happening on defense. I think we let that affect our game and slowed us down. We started being more ISO heavy instead of attacking like we did in the other three quarters.”
