INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (92.3 The Fan) – The Cleveland Cavaliers may have to close out the Orlando Magic without big man Jarrett Alen.
Allen, who is averaging 17.0 points and 13.8 rebounds in four games during the series, did not practice Thursday prior to the team boarding a plane to return to Orlando for Game 6 Friday night.
“He's still working through some things, still getting treatment,” Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He'll be with us on the trip, obviously, and we expect him to give it a go if he can.”
It is unclear when Allen suffered the injury in Game 4, which caused him to miss Tuesday night’s 104-103 victory that gave the Cavs a 3-2 series lead on the Magic.
“When you do something to your core, any part of your core, I mean that discomfort leads to the breathing piece, but more the movement and controlling yourself and how you change directions and all those things and raise your arms,” Bickerstaff said. “So many things that are part of basketball, you have to use your core and when that rib is bothering you, it's hard to do all those things.”
The home team has won every game in the series to date with the Magic winning Games 3 and 4 by a combined 61 points.
Regardless of Allen’s availability, Bickerstaff believes his team has what it takes to close the series out despite being blown out in Games 3 and 4 in Florida.
“We got a bunch of pros and we trust these guys to compete at the highest level and in any environment,” Bickerstaff said. “So we're comfortable. Obviously we miss when Jarett's not on the floor, but we're comfortable that if he's not able to go, we got guys that can step up.”
With Allen sidelined, Evan Mobley moved over to replace Allen at center and Isaac Okoro took Mobley’s role at forward. Marcus Morris Sr., who scored 12 points off the bench in Game 5, and Tristan Thompson saw minutes while Mobley delivered a key block in the closing seconds to secure Cleveland’s victory.
While Bickerstaff would not discuss his plans for playing time without Allen, it stands to reason he would take a similar approach for Game 6.
The home team has won every game in the series to date with the Magic winning Games 3 and 4 by a combined 61 points.