The Cleveland Cavaliers’ impressive showing on Friday against the mighty Boston Celtics at TD Garden proved that the series is not going to be a walk in the park for the league leaders as many had predicted. After leveling the series 1-1 on the road, J. B. Bickerstaff’s team will now head home to make things even more difficult for Jayson Tatum and Co. While the Cleveland side will be confident before Game 3, the Cavs’ pre-game injury report could be a cause for concern for the home side as Jarrett Allen makes another appearance on the list.
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The Cavaliers have been without their marquee center since their first-round series against Orlando. The 26-year-old has missed the last five games after he took an elbow to the rib in Game 1 of the team’s first-round series against the Magic. It was considered to be a “minor” injury at first, and he was able to play through it. But that changed later in the series.
The pre-game injury report for Game 3 has tagged Allen as “questionable” [right rib; contusion] for the contest tomorrow at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. This is the fifth time in the current postseason campaign that the 6’11 center has been tagged as “questionable” on the list, with Allen missing out on all the previous instances.
So it’s hard to predict if the Cleveland center will be available for the team on Saturday. However, the Cavs will certainly be eager to regain the services of their big man as they look to gain some ground in the series at home.
The Cavs are definitely missing Jarrett Allen
Allen aggravated his rib injury in Game 4 against the Magic. It appears as though he took an elbow from Orlando forward Franz Wagner, worsening the ailment.
The Athletic’s Sham’s Charania also provided an update on Allen’s injury on May 8th, revealing that sources close to him have told him that the Cavs star’s ribs are making him “very uncomfortable”. The 26-year old is experiencing severe pain and limited mobility.
While the Cavs will be eager to bring back Jarrett Allen, they wouldn’t want to make any rushed decisions as well. Cleveland is not facing a do-or-die situation right now. So there’s not a big incentive in bringing J.A back prior to full recovery.
The young core of the Cleveland side has managed to reinvigorate the city after LeBron James left. While Donovan Mitchell is clearly the leader of the team, Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland round off the squad to make a surprisingly effective Big Three in Ohio.
With both Mitchell and Garland balling out during this postseason, the team will need Allen for the team to play at its full potential. The last time the 26-year-old center played healthy was in Game 1 of the Magic series, which saw him put up 16 points and collect 18 rebounds in 35 minutes of play.
