The Cleveland Cavaliers will have to face the Brooklyn Nets in the first of the play-in tournament without Jarrett Allen due to a fractured finger injury.
Cavaliers All-Star center Jarrett Allen is out for Play-In Tournament game vs. Nets on Tuesday night. Allen has been rehabbing a fractured left finger that he suffered March 6.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 11, 2022
Allen has been dealing with the finger injury since March 6 and has already missed 18 games. Allen has been key for the Cavs being a top-5 in Defensive Rating. In the games he has missed, the team lost 11 games out of 18 and dropped to 21st in Defensive Rating.
Luckily, the Cavs got Evan Mobley back after he missed five games with an ankle injury and had two good games against Brooklyn and the Bucks to end the season.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the Nets are opening as an eight-point favorite and play against the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
The good news for the Cavs is that if they lose to Kevin Durant and company, they still can enter the playoffs winning the second game of the play-in tournament and Allen might be better by the first round.
