The Cavaliers could be without their starting center on Wednesday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers could be without Jarrett Allen during Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers. Allen is listed as questionable on the injury report as having a left leg strain.
This isn’t too surprising based on how Allen has looked in his last few outings. Kenny Atkinson didn’t close with Allen in either of the recent games against the Brooklyn Nets or Chicago Bulls. In Monday’s game in Chicago, Allen was seen on the bench having his lower leg looked at by head athletic trainer Steve Spiro.
It’s difficult to speculate how much the leg injury has impacted Allen’s performance. What we do know, is that Allen hasn’t been himself for the last several games. Allen has only registered 15 or more points twice in his last seven games. He reached that threshold four times in his first five.
Dean Wade would likely take Allen’s place in the starting lineup if he’s unable to play in Philadelphia. Either Tristan Thompson or JT Thor would likely get rotation minutes as well as Atkinson has insisted on going with a 10-man rotation at the start of the season.
Allen has played in all 12 of Cleveland’s games to start the season. He’s averaging 13.5 points on 64% shooting from the field with 10.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. Last season, Allen played Cleveland’s final 77 regular season games and first four playoff games before missing the remainder of the postseason with a rib injury.