CLEVELAND, Ohio — They weren’t the stat line stars on Sunday night in the Cavs’ Game 1 win over the Miami Heat.
But Cleveland wouldn’t have been victorious or set the right tone without the largely unsung work of Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in this contest.
“Bam (Adebayo) is an Olympic champion,“ Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said. ”We all know his resume, right? I don’t want to go through (it), it’s a heck of a player and it’s a heck of a challenge. It’s a heck of a challenge for Evan and J.A.”
Mobley ended the night with only nine points and seven rebounds. Allen was a bit closer to his regular season averages and finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Both were fine taking scoring steps back as the Cavs guards shined: Donovan Mitchell had 30 points, Ty Jerome had 28 and Darius Garland 27.
“I mean, I’m just trying to win games right now,” Mobley said. “That’s what’s most important. Like I said, we’re going to need everyone this series. So, tonight it might be everyone else’s night, tomorrow it might be our night. You never know. So we just play to win the game.”
But the dip was also about the defensive energy the duo expensed to slow Adebayo in particular.
Adebayo, the three-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA defensive team selection, can take over games quickly. He was the third-leading scorer for Miami in the regular season (18.1 points per game), their leading rebounder (9.6) and fourth in assists (4.3). Much like the Cavs, the Heat like running two big sets, pairing Adebayo with rookie center Kel’el Ware.
Over the years, Adebayo has been someone who the versatile Mobley has even studied, trying to model his game after — especially after the Cavs acquired Max Strus from the Heat in 2023, and the forward noticed all their similarities and encouraged a film deep dive.
On Sunday against Cleveland, Adebayo had 24 points on 10-of-22 shooting, but the Cavs felt like they made him work for just about every look — especially important when you remember the top-seeded Cavs are coming into this series fresh after a week off, and the Heat had to battle in two play-in games to get the eighth seed.
“We know we’re big bodies down there,” Allen said. “One of the best duos at defending, and we wanted to make everything tough for him. He still had (24), but I feel like we did a good job in making sure that things were not as easy as they could be for him.”
In a bit of an anomaly, Mobley had no rebounds in the first half.
He got going on the glass in the second half, and in addition to those seven boards, he was also key tipping rebounds out to his teammates, and using his length to be disruptive throughout the Heat’s offense.
“We’ll have to figure it out,” Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about Mobley’s influence. “They did force us into some tough possessions and possessions where we didn’t really work it the way you have to, particularly on the road at times.”
While Mobley struggled early to grab rebounds, Allen set the tone.
He grabbed eight in the first quarter, and nine total in the first half. It was important not only to contend with the Heat’s bigs, but to set a tone for himself and the team. The Cavs outrebounded Miami 42-37 for the game.
In years past, Allen has had his postseason physicality questioned. Two years ago that was especially true, as the Cavs were beat up in a first-round series against the Knicks. It happened again last year when a pierced rib sidelined him for Cleveland’s final eight postseason games and fans (and even former teammate Marcus Morris Sr.) grumbled about his toughness.
But Allen ended the year strong, playing in all 82 games, and playing some of the best basketball of his career.
“I just wanted to set the tone in the first game,” Allen said. “Every single game, I’m going to have the same mentality to come out like this. My teammates are expecting me to have the same energy, so it is just my job to be consistent and let them know that I’m going to be every single night crashing the boards.”
The Cavs set the tone for the series in many ways, but it still wasn’t perfect.
Spoelstra and the Heat have spent a decade-plus building a championship culture in South Beach.
While the Cavs had the edge on defensive boards 28-26, it’s still something Atkinson thinks they can improve upon to keep the series tide firmly in their favor.
But in so many ways, a feel-out Game 1 is about sending a message. And the Cavs did that — not just for Miami, but for the rest of the league’s postseason field.
“We wanted to send it from the beginning that we’re here to play,” Allen said. “We’re playing physical. Every time you shoot, you’re going to feel one of us, and I think everybody on the team got the same message and we were aggressive the whole night.”
It’s a message that will be heard loud and clear thanks to the sacrifice and work of two of their stars.
