Allen’s rebounding has anchored the Cavaliers

Allen is walking the road to redemption.

Last season, the Cleveland Cavaliers were outrebounded in all but one game against the New York Knicks. This year, it’s a different story. They’ve won the rebounding battle in both games and hold a 2-0 series lead over the Orlando Magic. Jarrett Allen has led the charge with his control of the glass.

Allen, who faced the most scrutiny for last year’s beatdown, has already surpassed his rebounding total from the entire Knicks series with 38 rebounds across his first two games against Orlando. In battles where neither team is scoring in bunches, winning on the glass is crucial.

While a lack of rebounding was their downfall against New York — the Cavaliers currently hold a 21-rebound advantage over the Magic. Allen is the primary driving force behind their success in this department. He is single-handedly outrebounding Orlando’s top three rebounders (35 rebounds combined). Orlando is being blinded and Allen is the one operating the bright lights this time around.

The rest of the Cavs have done their part to assist. Max Strus has recorded 9 rebounds in each game of the series while Mitchell grabbed 8 rebounds in Game 2, more than Mitchell had in any single game of last year’s playoffs. All around, the rebounding support around Allen has been much stronger than in the past and it’s allowed him to thrive.

“Obviously, the bigs are supposed to rebound, but the guards have done an excellent job coming in and getting the second hit on the bigs,” Allen said. “You know, it’s not in the stat sheet, but every time we see it, and we appreciate it.”

Cleveland’s defense has held Orlando to the worst field goal percentage of any team in the playoffs so far. However, the Cavaliers forced New York into inefficient games last season to no avail. The difference is that Allen is securing stops by cleaning up the glass — whereas last year, the Knicks managed to scavenge enough second-chance opportunities to scrape by.

Limiting the Magic to just one shot attempt per possession has given them a razor-thin margin for error. But that’s not all. Allen hauled in 9 offensive rebounds in Game 2, in part contributing to 18 second-chance points for the Cavaliers. In a series where the Magic have scored 18 or fewer points in three separate quarters, that many second-chance points for the opponent is a backbreaker.

Winning the possession battle is key and Allen has more than fulfilled his role. Aside from rebounding, he has shot an efficient 12-20 from the field and turned the ball over just twice in 74 minutes. His control of possessions on both ends of the floor has made Allen arguably the most important player of either team so far.

The Cavaliers still have work to do in Orlando but if Allen continues his rampage on the glass, Orlando will have little chance of turning the tides back in their favor.