The Cleveland Cavaliers missed the services of big man Jarrett Allen in their previous two games, but the former Texas Longhorns star is now back in action. On Monday, Allen even threw down a big dunk off a lob from James Harden to announce his return from a brief absence.

During the first quarter of the Cavs’ game against the Charlotte Hornets on the road at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, Allen rose up to catch the pass from the former NBA Most Valuable Player and threw it down hard for the first points of the contest.

Hornets center Ryan Kalkbrenner tried to deflect Harden’s pass, and by the time he went down, Allen was already way up in the air to finish the play strong at the rim.

You can watch that dunk in this clip here:

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Allen is coming off a multi-game absence due to a knee injury. He hurt his knee during last week’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He sat out the next two games, both in Cleveland, against the Philadelphia 76ers and the reigning NBA champions New York Knicks. The Cavs defeated the 76ers but fell to the Knicks.

The 28-year-old Allen entered Monday with season averages of 13.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.5 blocks. while shooting 62.1 percent from the field. He is in his seventh season with the Cavaliers, who acquired him via a trade with the Brooklyn Nets in the middle of the 2020-21 campaign.

Allen was a first-round pick (22nd overall) by the Nets in the 2017 NBA Draft.