#Jarrett Allen will be Nets’ key to a Caris LeVert breakout

If Caris LeVert is going to keep having the ball trapped and doubled out of his hands, the Nets will need Jarrett Allen to come help his point guard. He did it in the restart, and he’ll have do it against the Raptors.

Toronto blitzed LeVert in Monday’s first-round Game 1, and if they do so again Allen must serve as a release valve.

“Yeah for sure. If they’re going, I definitely need to be there. I can’t run away from the ball. I got caught up a couple of times doing that,” Allen admitted. “I should know better than to be doing that: I should always be there to help him.

“Coming into these next games — now that he’s been playing well, going off — they definitely might trap him more. So I need to be ready to help him and ready to make the right play.”

Allen had just one assist Monday after averaging 4.2 in the restart, fifth-most among centers.

“It’s something he’s worked on with his ball-handling and his passing. … You saw he had a couple of pocket passes where he will be able to be a decision-maker,” interim coach Jacque Vaughn said. “We do really believe Jarrett has the ability to make those plays.”

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The Nets saw Toronto stretch their defense, not just by shooting 22 of 44 from deep, but by how deep those shots were. Fred VanVleet sank a 31-footer in the second quarter, and Norman Powell hit from 33 in the fourth.

“That was the first thing that was revealing was taking a look at those shots and seeing how deep they were,” Vaughn said. “We might can be into the ball a little more to give [VanVleet] a little [more resistance] coming off of pick-and-roll.”

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The Nets gave away too many free points, watching the Raptors go 32 of 33 from the foul line, with Kyle Lowry and Pascal Siakam going a combined 16-for-16. But just as vital is not getting rattled by the officiating.

“We didn’t do a great job reacting to the officials. At the end of the day, it’s us against them; the officials are calling it both ways,” Garrett Temple said. “We’ve got to do a much better [job] to stay out of foul trouble and be smart.”

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Jamal Crawford (hamstring) is out, but that doesn’t mean his 20 years of experience can’t still prove invaluable.

“The dude made a whole scouting report on his own. He’s really locked-in, and his voice is so important — we wish he was playing, but he’s like another coach,” Tyler Johnson said.

“There are 1 or 2 things where maybe, if you’re iso’d up top, maybe look to influence the guy one way. ‘This guy has trouble finishing this way as opposed to if you let him get back to his left.” Sometimes just having an extra voice in there allows you to get to those a little bit quicker.”