The Cleveland Cavaliers seemed to be well in control of their first-round series against the Orlando Magic, winning the first two games at home. However, Paolo Banchero and Co. redeemed themselves by winning Games 3 & 4. Apart from the series now being tied, the Cavs received another blow – the injury to Jarrett Allen. After already giving up one chance of clinching the series, the Ohio side cannot fail to grab a win in Game 7 tonight. However, with Allen on the injury report, the fans of the franchise will be extremely concerned about their chances.
The Cleveland Cavaliers released their official injury report ahead of the final contest of the seven-game series and fans of the franchise will certainly not be pleased. Apart from Dean Wade, Craig Porter Jr., and Ty Jerome set to miss the upcoming game, Jarrett Allen is also a doubt, having been flagged as ‘questionable’ for this contest.
Allen took a shot from an elbow in his ribs during the second half of Game 4, something that has caused him serious pain. Things were bad enough that Allen was even forced to miss games 5 and 6, something that played to the Magic’s advantage massively.
In both contests, Allen’s presence in the paint was severely missed. J.B. Bickerstaff’s boys were outrebounded 77-91 in the two games, per NBA.com. Clearly, the team struggled in the paint, failing to cover the 13.8 rebounds per game that the 26-year-old averaged in the first four games.
While Allen would miss both games 5 and 6, it wasn’t before there was hope he would make it back to perform in the latter. However, the Cavs’ head coach made it pretty clear that the team was going to prioritize Allen’s health instead of rushing him to return to the lineup.
“It’s his safety always,” Bickerstaff revealed some concerns, per NBA.com. “When you have an injury to your core, your ability to change directions, get out of the way, move freely, play in the trenches like he does. We’ll always look out for Jarrett.”
If Allen were to miss out on tonight’s clash, the Orlando Magic, who are fully healthy, would be heavily favored to win the series-deciding Game 7. To prevent elimination, while Donovan Mitchell is doing an exceptional job carrying the team’s offensive load, Evan Mobley, Max Struss, Isaac Okoro, and Marcus Morris Sr. have to try and do a better job preventing the Magic from dominating the paint.
That said, Jarrett Allen’s being flagged as ‘questionable’, rather than ‘out’ does provide hope that he may just feature in this contest.
