CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Cavs are getting some bodies back for Friday’s NBA Cup group play finale in Atlanta.
Jarrett Allen, who missed the last three games with a right finger strain, is set to return to the active roster. Dean Wade will also be available after sitting out the last contest against the Raptors with a hyperextended right knee. Their returns give Cleveland a jolt of frontcourt depth at a moment when the rotation has been stretched thin.
Craig Porter Jr. won’t be as fortunate. The third-year guard will miss his third straight game with a left hamstring strain, keeping one of Cleveland’s secondary ball handlers off the board for a matchup that demands them. The Cavs will again be without Sam Merrill (right hand sprain) and Max Strus (left foot surgery, Jones fracture).
Even so, Cleveland will have its projected starting lineup — Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, Evan Mobley and Allen — intact for just the third time this season. Friday marks game No. 20 for the Cavs, a stunning reminder of how infrequently the group has been whole.
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Porter’s absence, paired with the losses of Merrill and Strus, leaves the bench ball-handling duties to Lonzo Ball, rookie Tyrese Proctor and Jaylon Tyson.
Atlanta’s guards will pressure Cleveland’s primary initiators all night, and without Porter’s control and ability to get the Cavs organized, the margin for error tightens.
The Cavs can still clinch the wild card if any of the following break their way:
- They beat Atlanta, Detroit loses, and Cleveland holds the tiebreaker over the second-place team in East Group C.
- They beat Atlanta and finish with the tiebreaker advantage over both Orlando and the second-place team in East Group C.
The first task is defeating the Hawks.
