Cleveland Cavaliers could not complete the comeback vs the mighty Brooklyn Nets. The Cavs will have one more chance to make the postseason, but, Jarrett Allen has yet to be cleared to play in the crucial Friday matchup.
Allen is considered a “50-50 proposition” for Friday’s play-in game, according to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com. Allen hasn’t played for more than a month, being out with a fractured finger he suffered early in March.
Allen’s ability to protect the paint was a big part of Cleveland’s plan all season. The one-time All-Star could change the tides in the Tuesday’s contest against Brooklyn with his defensive ability only.
Brooklyn’s bigmen duo of Andre Drummond and Nic Claxton combined for 29 points and 17 rebounds in Nets’ 108-115 victory over Cleveland.
Darius Garland, Kevin Love and Evan Mobley pushed the Cavs back in the game after Cleveland allowed the Nets to score 40 points and take a 20-point lead in the first quarter. The Cavs cut the lead to five at some point with Garland finishing the game with 34.
The All-Star point guard did not receive help from the Cavs’ wings with Okoro finishing the game with zero points, while Cedi Osman having only two coming off the bench.
Considering the lack of several key players, having Allen back will be a considerable boost for Cleveland as the team heading to a game that will be its last chance to make the playoffs.
They will host the winner of the Atlanta-Charlotte game on Friday, with the winner moving on to face No. 1 seed Miami.
“I feel good about our group. We love playing in front of our fans. The FieldHouse is going to be rocking, It’s going to be a tough place to play for the opponent. We just have to go out and execute” J.B. Bickerstaff said ahead of Friday’s contest.
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