Jarrett Allen's health could decide playoff series between Cavs, Magic

01/05/2024 02:57

Hours before the Cleveland Cavaliers were set to face the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the NBA Playoffs, a fourth injury had hit the Cavs. Jarrett Allen, Cleveland’s best player against Orlando, was surprisingly listed as questionable due to a right rib contusion and was considered a game-time decision.

According to Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Allen suffered the injury in the second half of Cleveland’s 112-89 Game 4 loss in Orlando. Whether Franz Wagner, Mo Wagner, or Wendell Carter Jr. was the culprit, Bickerstaff said Allen was elbowed in the ribs by either of them.

But despite the sudden shot to the ribs, Allen powered through the injury to help Cleveland regain the nine-point lead they had lost. The hope for Game 6 was for Allen to warm up and play through the injury, wearing protective padding to keep his rib injury from worsening.

Unfortunately, Allen was eventually ruled out for the game. And with him unable to play in Game 5, not having Allen at all could be fatal for the Cavs for the remainder of this series.

Jarrett Allen’s status can make or break this series

Although he won’t be 100% in Game 6 and possibly beyond against the Magic, the Cavs need Jarrett Allen to play to regain momentum against Orlando.

In the opening games of this series, the Magic were rattled by Allen’s physicality. Allen tied a franchise record for the second-most rebounds in a single game and has more or less dictated Orlando’s overall flow by commanding the rebounding margin.

In this series, Allen has averaged the most rebounds for Cleveland, grabbing 13.8 boards in 31.8 minutes per game. After Allen, the Cavs’ second-best rebounder has been Evan Mobley, who has averaged 7.3 rebounds per game, and then Max Strus, who has averaged 5.0 rebounds per game.

Without Allen, Cleveland would have to lean on rebounding by committee even more, which the Cavs might not be comfortable doing against a Magic team that thrives under that philosophy. But it’s not just the rebounding where Allen has been vital for Cleveland; he’s also been just as important with his scoring.

While Donovan Mitchell leads the Cavs in playoff scoring, averaging 21.0 points per game, Allen is Cleveland’s second-leading scorer, with an average of 17.0 points per contest. After Allen, the only other double-digit scoring threats for the Cavs are Mobley, who has averaged 14.3 points per game, and Darius Garland, who has averaged 12.0 points per game in Cleveland’s first four playoff games.

After the quarter of Allen, Mitchell, Garland, and Mobley, the Cavs’ scoring situation becomes much more barren. While Caris LeVert has been averaging 8.3 points off the bench for Cleveland, the other primary reserves, Georges Niang and Isaac Okoro, haven’t been nearly as effective.

Niang has averaged 3.5 points per game on 22.7% shooting, while Okoro has scored 3.5 points on 38.6% shooting. Finally, Max Strus, the other Cavs player who has gotten consistent minutes in the opening round, has only mustered 6.3 points per game on 38.5% shooting.

This Cleveland team scored less than 100 points in all four playoff games against Orlando. So, without Allen, it’ll be even more difficult to crack triple-digits when the Magic have been stingy all series long on defense. Hopefully, with the Cavs being forced to go smaller with Allen unavailable, it can allow Cleveland to buck the trend.

If not, the Cavs could see their season end much sooner than expected for the second year in a row.

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