OHH NO: Boston celtics star player out of game at least 2 weeks with ankle injury” and could miss the start of the regular season
The left ankle bone bruise that will keep Jarrett Allen, an All-Star center for the Cleveland Cavaliers, out for at least two weeks, could prevent him from playing at the start of the regular season.
Allen was hurt this week during one of the Cavaliers’ first training camp practices, the team announced in a release on Saturday. However, the center has reportedly been coping with a problem for some time, according to coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Bickerstaff stated after the game that it was just one of those things that happened over time. Not a situation that occurred in real life or was caused by anything. It was a development that had occurred over time.
The 6-foot-11 Allen underwent an MRI on Friday and has started a treatment and rehab program
Allen, who averaged 14.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks last season, will be reevaluated in two weeks. Based on the team’s timeline, Allen will miss the club’s three exhibition games, and his status for the Oct. 25 season opener at Brooklyn is unclear.
Bickerstaff said his hope is that Allen will be ready for the Nets. Cleveland’s first home game is Oct. 27 against Oklahoma City.
“I can’t give you an honest answer on that because it’s a bone and everybody is different as far as how long those things take,” Bickerstaff said. “You can’t control everybody’s bone. But we wanted to do it now because we thought this was the best time.
“Give him as much time to rest and see how it heals and do all the things we can to help a speedy recovery and go from there.”
Allen, 25, has averaged 14.5 points and 10.1 rebounds in three seasons for Cleveland. The affable center was acquired in 2021 from the Nets in a three-team trade.
Allen anchors Cleveland’s defense, and his loss creates a major void inside. The Cavs addressed their need for frontline depth in the offseason by acquiring center Damian Jones — a move that went under the radar — and re-signing free agent Tristan Thompson, who spent nine seasons with Cleveland and was on the club’s 2016 NBA title squad.
Bickerstaff noted the Cavs have versatile players who will allow him to use a variety of lineups.
“It gives other people an opportunity,” Bickerstaff said. “I think Damian Jones is kind of in that same ilk, so it doesn’t change a lot of things that we want to do and work on as far as his ability to play with Evan [Mobley] on the floor.
“Obviously having Tristan here also, you can still play with two big guys and still work around what you want to do. We will miss J.A. and his reps I think were going to be valuable for him, but we don’t have to make dramatic change because we do have other big guys who can kind of fill in and play that role.”