CLEVELAND — Music played over the loudspeakers inside Cleveland Clinic Courts. Evan Mobley had just returned from the hospital bearing the same name with news: imaging on his left calf showed a strain, and he would be out one to three weeks.
The available players stretched along the baseline before a workout. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson approached Jarrett Allen quietly for a quick word.
“I said, man, we need you. We need you to step up,” Atkinson remembered.
It was Jan. 28, eight days before the Cavs would change their trajectory by trading Darius Garland for James Harden. The team entered the season with huge expectations but mostly muddled along, with key players missing extended stretches and several performing below last season’s level.
What’s easy to forget now is that the Cavs had already begun to turn the season around. They won four straight before Mobley’s injury and were 28–20 — a solid recovery from a 15–14 record approaching Christmas.
Allen was one of those players who had both been in and out with injury and wasn’t performing up to the level the Cavs needed. Mobley’s absence was going to mean more responsibility for Allen.
“(Atkinson) told me I was going to have to pick it up,” Allen said. “I was going to have to make up for the loss of rim protection and the loss of offensive ability, and I took that to heart.”
Allen is averaging 21.7 points and 11.4 rebounds with 10 double-doubles — including nine of them in his last 10 games — since Jan. 28. He is shooting 72.7 percent from the field during this stretch, above even the 70.6 he shot last season when he led the league in field-goal percentage.
He was, to put it mildly, absurd (in the best way) on Feb. 1 in Portland, erupting for 40 points and 17 rebounds. That was four days and two games before the Harden trade. And on Wednesday night in Milwaukee, with Harden resting after suffering a non-displaced fracture on his right thumb (an injury that’s not expected to keep him out long), Allen went off for a team-high 27 points and 11 boards in a two-point loss to the Bucks.
All of this undercuts one of the most consistent narratives on the Cavs right now. Harden’s arrival didn’t unlock Allen. He was already rolling. Harden has made what was already happening easier — and more dangerous.
“I always try to say I’m a perfect soldier,” Allen said. “If you tell me to do something, I’m going to blindly go do it, whether I believe it or not. And it’s just been working.”
Harden’s impact on the Cavs, through just seven games as of Wednesday morning, is concrete and tangible. Cleveland went 6-1 in that stretch, including a dominant 109–94 win over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
Allen finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, controlling the paint on both ends. Harden added 20 points and four assists, and Mitchell scored 23 points, attacking a defense that could no longer load entirely toward him.
“I think we’re rolling right now,” Allen said. “Things are clicking on the offensive end. We’re finding sets that work for us.”
Earlier in the season, the Cavs leaned heavily on quick 3-point attempts. The better defensive teams threw multiple bodies at Mitchell, forcing him to give up the ball, because Garland, the former All-Star who had been Mitchell’s backcourt partner, was either injured or not playing up to his usual level.
Teams haven’t been able to do that with Harden and Mitchell. Then, when Atkinson staggers the two of them, and Harden is out, another trade the Cavs made, bringing in veteran point guard Dennis Schröder, has allowed Mitchell to remain off the ball and avoid the constant swarms of double-teams.
“From a physical standpoint, from a mental standpoint, being able to know that guy’s over there … that always helps,” Mitchell said of Harden.
Harden is 6 foot 5 and 220 pounds. Garland is listed at 6-1 and 192 pounds. Neither player is known as a stopper, but Harden’s size makes it harder for opponents to hunt mismatches the way they did against Garland.
There is still a while to go before the Cavs start facing and, potentially, passing those playoff tests. However, it’s all working now, and, almost as an aside, Harden is averaging 18.9 points, 8.0 assists and shooting 48.8 percent from 3-point range in seven games with Cleveland.
He is also having a strong impact playing with Allen.
Since Harden joined the lineup, Allen’s efficiency around the rim has climbed higher. Much of Cleveland’s half-court offense now flows through Harden-Allen pick-and-roll actions that stress defenses in multiple directions.
“I feel I’m a pretty decent pick-and-roll player,” Allen said. “And he’s a Hall of Fame player who’s excellent with a big in (the) pick-and-roll. When those two combine, you just get something good.”
Donovan Mitchell and James Harden have already formed an effective backcourt duo. (Nick Cammett / Getty Images)
Harden’s early analysis of Allen?
“Just his athleticism and how he gets out of pick and roll — you can’t teach that,” he said.
Harden’s reputation for elevating centers is well established, from Clint Capela in Houston, to Ivica Zubac on the Clippers, to even former perennial All-Star Joel Embiid, whose MVP season came alongside Harden in Philadelphia. Allen appears to be the latest example of a center flourishing with Harden.
Harden says his role in those situations is built on decision-making.
“I’ve been a decision-maker my entire career,” Harden said. “The first option is myself scoring off pick and roll, then the big, then the shooters. I can get to the paint. Then it’s decision-making.”
Allen, it seemed, was in a mood to agree with whatever narrative was suggested to him on Tuesday. Hey, Jarrett, you’re playing the best basketball of your career right now. Why? His answer: “Obviously Harden — we know the elephant in the room.”
Ummm, Jarrett, you were ballin’ before Harden showed up. How come?
He, as you already know, cited the Atkinson pep talk.
Atkinson has his theory about the timing. Allen missed time earlier in the season with a finger injury, and Atkinson believes the recovery period helped Allen rebuild conditioning.
“He went ballistic conditioning-wise,” Atkinson said. “I felt like earlier he just didn’t have the same pop.”
Atkinson cited Allen’s offseason wedding as a deterrent to Allen arriving in camp in prime physical condition; Allen says he never starts a season in the best shape. Whatever the cause, Allen now looks closer to the player who shot 70 percent from the field last season and anchored one of the league’s best defenses.
“I think I’m playing smarter,” Allen said. “Just understanding the game.”
Harden believes Cleveland still has room to grow.
“We got a few more notches to get to,” he said. “It’s going to start defensively.”
However, offensively, the structure already looks difficult to guard — a system built around multiple creators and a center playing the most confident basketball of his career.
Allen’s surge may have begun with a quiet conversation at practice after Mobley’s injury.
Harden has helped turn it into something bigger.
