Jarrett Allen To Play On Friday

APRIL 15: Allen will make his return and start in the make-or-break matchup to determine the No. 8 seed in the East, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Cavs will also start Caris LeVert at shooting guard, with Isaac Okoro heading to the bench.

Charania first reported (via Twitter) that Allen would return on Friday, barring a last-minute setback.


APRIL 14: Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen, who is officially listed as questionable on the team’s injury report, is going to attempt to return for Cleveland’s play-in game against the Hawks on Friday, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski states (via Twitter) that Allen considers the odds of him returning to be “50-50,” as the pain in his fractured left middle finger is still bothering him quite a bit, but he’s intent on helping the Cavs make the playoffs. Allen missed the last 18 games of the regular season and Tuesday’s play-in tournament loss to Brooklyn after sustaining the injury on March 6.

A first-time All-Star in 2021/22, Allen had a stellar season for Cleveland, averaging 16.1 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks while shooting 67.7% from the field and 70.8% from the free throw line. He appeared in 56 games, with an average of 32.3 minutes per contest. The team was just 9-17 in the 26 games Allen missed this season.

Hawks big man John Collins has officially been ruled out for Friday’s game, tweets Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. Collins has been dealing with a right foot sprain and plantar fascia tear, as well as a right ring finger sprain. He was considered unlikely to play in the matchup to determine the No. 8 seed in the East, so the fact that he has formally been listed as out isn’t surprising.

In other injury-related news for the Hawks, Bogdan Bogdanovic is listed as questionable with a left ankle sprain, while Lou Williams has been ruled out with lower back discomfort, per Kirschner.

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