The Cleveland Cavaliers are hoping to get All-Star guard Darius Garland some more help when they play on Friday for a chance to earn the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference.
The Cavs will take on the winner of Wednesday night’s play-in game between the Charlotte Hornets and Atlanta Hawks.
Cavs center Jarrett Allen, who missed Tuesday’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets with a fractured finger, could return for the game on Friday, according to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor.
However, Allen’s chances remain a coin flip at this point.
“Allen’s return would mitigate some of the issues,” Fedor wrote. “He continues to progress, able to use his left hand — the one with the fractured middle finger — during intense workouts. But a source still views Friday as a 50-50 proposition. The Cavs can’t bank on Allen to push them into the playoffs. As Tuesday night showed, Garland’s best may not be enough either.”
When healthy, Allen has been a key piece for the Cavs this season. He had arguably the best regular season of his career in the 2021-22 campaign by averaging 16.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game while shooting 67.7 percent from the field.
The Cavs simply didn’t have enough talent on the floor to beat the Nets on Tuesday. Cleveland lost the rebounding battle in the game as well. Allen’s presence down low would help the team immensely on the glass, and he’d also help a lot on the defensive end of the floor.
Cleveland will have some time to rest up before taking on the Hornets or Hawks, but the health of Allen could be a deciding factor in whether or not Cleveland makes the playoffs this season.
