Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen suffered a right hand injury during the first half of Friday’s blowout win over New York, as Tom Withers of The Associated Press writes.
The injury didn’t force Allen to the sidelines immediately — he played a few minutes in the second half before exiting the game for good, finishing the night with 10 points and three rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
“X-rays were negative, so that’s good,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the victory. “I do think he’s going to get an MRI tomorrow. He came up to me during the game. He goes, ‘It’s really bothering me. I’m not going to be able to finish.’ But (it’s) good X-rays were negative.”
Allen told reporters that he may have injured the hand while trying to block a shot in the first quarter, but was otherwise reluctant to say much about it, according to Withers. Teammate Donovan Mitchell said the big man will be “fine.”
Allen has been available for each of the Cavaliers’ first 56 games this season. If he has to miss any time, frontcourt partner Evan Mobley would likely shift to center, opening up a forward spot in the starting five alongside Max Strus. De’Andre Hunter, Dean Wade, and Isaac Okoro would be the top candidates to fill that opening.