CLEVELAND, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – Jarrett Allen rocked the rim and the Rockets all night long.
The Cavs’ emerging center was quite a problem for Houston.
Allen scored 26 points to go with 18 rebounds as the Cavaliers won their second straight, 112-96 over the Rockets Wednesday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
“At 22 years old, Jarrett is not near his potential ceiling — and that’s the part I’m most excited about,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He knows there’s room for growth and a high ceiling for him.
“He plays off his teammates well and he knows they’re looking for him.”
It was the second victory in as many night for the Cavs, who just ended a 10-game losing streak Tuesday night, while Houston went down for the ninth consecutive time.
Allen, who had four of Cleveland's 10 blocked shots, helped the Cavs crush the visitors on the boards, 55-33, and the wine and gold shot 50.6% thanks to them making 25-of-37 shots over the final 24 minutes.
John Wall paced Houston with 20 while Victor Oladipo and Eric Gordon added 17 apiece in the loss.
Allen’s best highlight of the night came in the third quarter when he nearly went coast to coast, pulling down a rebound, flying up the middle of the floor and taking off from inside the free throw stripe for a monster Jordan-esque one-handed smash drawing oohs and ahhs for the 2,720 in attendance.
Bickerstaff likened the dunk to Hall of Famer Julius Erving.
“I got the rebound and I took two dribbles, so it’s close, it’s close,” Allen said, laughing. “I’ve been kind of forced to watch (Dr. J highlights) – with the nickname, the hair, the “J” as my nickname. So, I’ve kind of seen what he was able to do. Was it like that? Yeah, I guess so. We both have the afro, we were both soaring through the air, so it’s close.”
Over the last four games, Allen is a scorching 34-of-42 from the field, including games of 8-9, 11-11 and 10-11 from the floor.
Collin Sexton finished with 23 points, including a pair of threes late in the fourth quarter to help put the game away.
Dylan Windler continued to have a hot hand from deep hitting 4-4 from beyond the arc. He scored 13 off the bench and has hit his last nine threes in two nights. Windler also had four rebounds.
“Continuing to see growth as a player is my goal, game after game and year after year,” Windler said.
Houston shot 40.0%, including 10-33 from beyond the arc as the Cavs held their opponent below 100 points for the first time since a 100-98 win over the Timberwolves on Feb. 1.
The Cavs built a 10-point lead, 27-17, through one quarter thanks to some abysmal shooting by the Rockets – 6-25 overall, including just 1-10 from three.
The teams reversed roles in the second quarter with the Cavs going cold, making just 9 of 28 from the field while Houston warmed up hitting 14 of 20 shots and 22 of their 33 points coming in the paint which allowed the visitors to lead 50-48 at intermission.
The Cavs came out of the locker room strong to win the third quarter 34-24 thanks to a late 12-3 run to lead 82-74 with 12 minutes remaining.
Garland hit a trio of threes within a minute in that third but otherwise was ice cold from deep, 0-6. He scored 11 points to help keep the Cavs back on track.
