Report: Cavs hopeful of Jarrett Allen returning for at least one of 2 upcoming games vs. Nets

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been without big man and defensive leader Jarrett Allen for the last four games after he injured his eye in a recent contest.

The good news is that the team has gone 3-1 during his absence, and it likely won’t have to wait much longer before Allen is back in the lineup.

According to a recent report, the Cavs are hopeful that Allen will return for at least one of their two upcoming games against the Brooklyn Nets.

“Cavs center Jarrett Allen is taking positive steps in his recovery from a right eye contusion and there is hope of a return this coming week for at least one of the games in Brooklyn when the Cavs travel there for a two-game series, sources tell cleveland.com.,” Chris Fedor wrote.

It’s good news that he’ll seemingly be back soon, but the truly important thing is that he is fully healed come playoff time. Given the current timeline of his return, that seems like a certainty.

Allen has been having another characteristically strong season on both ends of the floor. He’s putting up 14.4 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

He is going to be a key factor in making sure that the Cavs’ top-notch defense translates from the regular season to the playoffs.

Speaking of the playoffs, the Cavs are now in fantastic position to secure home-court advantage in the first round. They sit comfortably in the No. 4 seed with a three-game lead over the New York Knicks.

The Nets are currently 1.5 games back from the Knicks, and according to a recent report, some inside the Cavs might prefer it if the Nets were in the five seed, thus pitting the two teams against one another in the first round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

It will be interesting to see if the Cavs change their game plan at all based on that reported desire. However, it’s unlikely that they’ll do anything other than take the court with every intention of winning both games.

The first contest will come on Tuesday in Brooklyn, and the second game will take place on Thursday, also in Brooklyn.

After that, the Cavs will have just seven more games on the regular season schedule, with four coming at home and three taking place on the road.