INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – As the Cleveland Cavaliers wrapped up another practice Thursday, forward Isaac Okoro stayed on the floor to get up some more shots.
His status for Game 1 Saturday night against the New York Knicks remains unknown.
“I wouldn’t do that to you,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said with a smile when asked if he knew if Okoro would play but was being coy leading up to Saturday.
Okoro, who also practiced on Wednesday, participated in the portions of practice that include contact, but Thursday’s practice was lighter than Wednesday’s according to Bickerstaff, which was by design.
“We built the schedule out so that we can be as fresh as we can be Saturday,” Bickerstaff said.
Okoro has been sidelined with what the team has called soreness in his left knee which caused him to miss the final six games of the regular season.
Okoro’s presence has been missed.
“He's one of the best defenders I played with [and] played against as well and he's still a young player, still learning too,” swingman Caris LeVert said. “He brings a level of I think physicality and just a level of awareness defensively, and then offensively obviously with the way he's facing on the floor in the corners running the floor and transition, he's a big, big part of our team.”
Center Jarrett Allen explained how valuable Okoro can be for him on the defensive end of the floor.
“It makes it easier, especially in pick and rolls. He's usually guarding the guy that handles the ball the most, so it's not like the guy is going to blow past him,” Allen said. “It's not like he's going to give the guy an open lane to the basket. So that helps me be able to relax more and rely that it's going to be a two on two defense.”
Okoro, in his third season after being selected fifth overall in the 2020 NBA Draft, is averaging 6.4 points, 2.8 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 0.4 steals per game this season.
