Jarrett Allen pulled off an extraordinary performance tonight and dropped 22 points and 19 rebounds on the Raptors to lead all scorers for the Cavaliers’ emphatic Game 7, 114-102, comeback win to proceed to the Eastern semifinals. He also had two assists, two steals, and three blocks as he stuffed the box score for the Cavaliers while going 7-11 from the floor (63.6 FG%).
Following the game, James Harden was asked if he knew that Allen was going to have a special night due to his changed demeanour before the game. But Harden said he knew it when he saw Jarrett Allen actively engaging in trash-talk on the court.
While Harden did not disclose the details of what Allen said, he admitted that seeing Allen be aggressive on the floor was exactly what the Cavaliers needed to fuel their comeback from down 10 points midway through the second quarter.
“Um, no. But he doesn’t really talk too much, but he was talking today, you know what I mean? He was like, he had like a mean title today, you know, which is what we need out of him.”
“Like when he plays like that, we’re a different ball club, you know what I mean? Just because our presence inside is felt. And then obviously that perimeter, you know, we can do a lot on the perimeter. Uh, but when he and Evan are like aggressive, and they’re rebounding the basketball, they’re finishing around the rim, they’re in just an attack mode, [then] like you know, we got two sides of the floor,” Harden said.
Near the end of the game, a small part of Jarrett Allen’s trash-talking with the Raptors’ players was caught on broadcast. He was yelling at them to “go home!” as the Cavaliers had nearly put the game away with less than a minute left to go.
Jarrett Allen to the Raptors:
“GO HOME! GO HOME! GO HOME!” pic.twitter.com/zGSkVAVxUB
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) May 4, 2026
Jarrett Allen stepped up on a crucial night when Harden struggled to find his consistency initially in the game. The 36-year-old veteran ended the night with 18 points, six rebounds, three assists, and three steals. He shot 3-9 from the field (33.3 FG%) and 1-5 from beyond the arc (20.0 3P%). Harden also dove deeper into his opinions about Allen and the team’s performance.
“Amazing. You know what I mean? I think it’s just like, and we hadn’t seen that really in all series, but like his activity, you know, his offensive rebounding, finishing. Um, how many rebounds did he have? 19. Like, come on, bro. What are we talking about?”
“Like 22 and 19, that’s a game changer right there. And like we’ve seen it throughout the course of NBA playoffs in history, obviously, the stars play well as much as they want to go out there and score 30 points a game, role players and other guys are going to have to step up and win games, and we’ve seen that from these playoffs, and we’ve seen it tonight,” concluded Harden.
Jarrett Allen could prove to be the X-factor that pushes the Cavaliers to the next level, going into the series against the Pistons. With Jalen Duren matched up with Evan Mobley, and either Harden or Donovan Mitchell on Cade Cunningham, players like Jarrett Allen and even Max Strus could be pivotal game changers for Cleveland.
Do you agree that Jarrett Allen could be a difference maker against a physical matchup like Isaiah Stewart in the next round? Let us know what you think in the comments section.
