The Most Unlikely Impact Player

n a league that glorifies high-flying scorers, Allen, who spent his first six season with the Celtics as a defensive stopper, has fashioned the Grizzlies—long one of the league's most lackluster franchises—into a compelling team by doing things that seldom show up in a box score. He plays defense with super-caffeinated intensity and creates theater wherever his plays.

"It would have been impossible for us to stay afloat if Tony hadn't been able to consistently perform the way he has," general manager Chris Wallace said.

"Our defensive energy is the cornerstone to what we're doing—creating turnovers, making steals, forcing deflections," Hollins said. "And Tony attached himself to that concept at training camp like it was normal, like it was expected. The guy loves to play defense. And the other players started feeding off it."

Entering Wednesday's regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Clippers, Allen was averaging 1.8 steals per game and 4.2 steals per 48 minutes—the most since 1995 among players who have averaged at least 1.5 steals per game.

Not long after he signed last summer, Allen had lunch in Memphis with Wallace and Tony Barone, Sr., the Grizzlies' director of player personnel. Wallace said the meal turned into a "defensive seminar," during which Allen broke down—in granular detail—how he guards certain players. "We were blown away," Wallace said.

Allen takes his craft seriously, dissecting DVDs that the coaching staff distributes of upcoming opponents. He gets annoyed when teammates fail to do the same. "He should have taken that home with him," he said recently, spotting one of the DVDs in a younger player's locker. His pregame ritual includes taking his laptop into the training room and watching clips of whomever he will defend that night. "Teams run the same sets over and over," he said, "and guys have tendencies."