Cavs’ Jarrett Allen makes candid admission about ailing knee before NBA playoffs

According to Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson, there will be no restrictions for Jarrett Allen despite his bothersome right knee tendinitis that flared up at the beginning of March. The 27-year-old center hasn’t played since the team’s meeting with the Atlanta Hawks on April 8, but this week-and-a-half of time to ramp up before the Toronto Raptors series has been advantageous for both him and the Cavs.

“Better,” Allen said of how the knee is feeling. “I had some time off for it to calm down and try to get back to homeostasis, back to the level where it should be. A little pain. It’s not going to go away immediately. That’s something that’s going to have to linger for a while, but it’s enough where I can play at a high level, I believe.”

“He’s been healthy in practice,” Atkinson added.

There is a difference between practicing healthy and playing healthy, however. One of the most common themes in Atkinson’s approach to lingering injuries is the discrepancy between return to play and return to performance. Allen’s reluctant admission regarding his true status is telling.

“I’d be lying if I said I would expect it to be 100 percent,” Allen said. “I don’t think anybody will be 100 percent going into the playoffs.

“That’s just how it is. That’s my very political answer to not give you a yes or no. But I think it’s definitely something I’m going to have to deal with and manage, get treatment before, take the medicine that I’m supposed to try to be at my best.”

Allen went as far as to say that his knee won’t get back to full health by the time the postseason is over and the year ends.

“If you’re not giving 100% during the playoffs, there’s no way you can maintain 100% every single day,” Allen said.

Somebody familiar with ill-timed injuries and setbacks in his own right, Cleveland forward Dean Wade strongly admires Allen’s determination.

“Seeing one of your most important players fighting through pain and just being uncomfortable at all times, seeing him do that kinda puts an extra little energy burst into you,” Wade said. “You want to cover for him, you want to be tough.

“I know he’s sacrificing to be out there battling for us, so I think it just gives everybody a little more confidence, a little more belief that we can play through this stuff.”

Wade noticed that Allen was hampered and limited by his knee since he initially came back on March 27 after missing 10 games and the majority of the month.

“You could tell he was not comfortable and hurt, but seeing him battle and push through just to be with us and help us is huge and definitely a morale boost seeing him out there; especially on defense and rebounding, he’s unbelievable,” Wade said. “He’s so important for us.”

“When the adrenaline starts going, the pain goes away,” Allen added. “You can say that for everybody. When you’re scoring the ball, when the crowd’s yelling, things start to stop hurting, things start to just go from your mind, and you’re so focused on the next play.”

Even a 70-80 percent version of Allen is better than no Allen at all.

“You could just give in to your injury, but a lot of maturity and trying to get a lot of treatment, trying to do everything you can so that their body is at tip-top shape,” Allen said of his and the team’s resiliency.

“A lot of guys are coming in before practice to make sure that their knees aren’t hurting before practice. People are taking the extra step to be better.”

Jarrett Allen is essential to the Cavs, and it should show in the Raptors series

As Wade said, Allen is essential to the Cavs in more ways than one.

Defensively, he is a rim protector and anchor in the middle. If he’s not blocking shots, he’s altering them. If he switches out onto a guard on the outside, he can more than hold his own. Rebounding on both ends is better with him on the floor.

Allen is also James Harden’s go-to pick-and-roll partner, and they have clicked with one another from the moment the veteran guard got there.

Taking on a Raptors squad that is littered with rangy wings, Allen and Evan Mobley should be priorities on the interior offensively near the rim.

Jakob Poeltl has dealt with an ailing back throughout the year, and rookie Collin Murray-Boyles is experiencing the postseason for the first time in his career. Toronto’s Sandro Mamukelashvili has given Cleveland problems off the bench, and newcomer Trayce Jackson-Davis or Jonathan Mogbo can be utilized in a pinch, but the Cavs have the starting frontcourt size advantage by far.

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