Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen sustained a broken left ring finger on Wednesday in Boston, the team announced (via Twitter). The former All-Star is considered questionable for Friday’s contest against Toronto.
According to the Cavaliers, Allen underwent an X-ray on Thursday, which revealed a non-displaced fracture of his distal phalanx. In layman’s terms, the injury — which often results in “swelling, bruising, and tenderness,” per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link) — is a break in the tip of Allen’s finger.
Multiple sources tell Fedor that Allen suffered the injury while going through an individual pregame warmup on Wednesday evening. The 27-year-old felt discomfort, Fedor writes, but decided to play through the injury in Thursday’s loss to the Celtics.
While Allen’s specific finger injury requires surgery in some cases, the current plan is for the 6’11” big man to continue to try and play through it, according to Fedor, who hears Allen’s injured digit will be frequently reexamined and monitored. The Cavs will work to manage Allen’s pain and swelling and he will receive “other forms of treatment” as well, Fedor adds.
As Fedor notes, the Cavs are already playing without two injured starters (Darius Garland and Max Strus), though Garland reportedly might return in the first half of November.
If Allen were to miss time, Dean Wade, Larry Nance Jr. and Thomas Bryant are among the reserves who could receive more minutes for Cleveland.