The final game of the 2022 Eastern Conference play-in tournament has been set. On Friday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will host the Atlanta Hawks in a winner-take-all matchup for the right to be the No. 8 seed and face the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs.
It should be an interesting matchup between a Cavaliers team that got off to a brilliant start but faded down the stretch, and a Hawks team that did the opposite this season. Unfortunately, as is so often the case around this time of year, injuries will play a big part in who advances.
Here is a quick update on the injury situation for Friday night:
Jarrett Allen (broken finger): ’50-50′ to play, per report
Allen, who made his first All-Star Game earlier this season, suffered a broken finger against the Toronto Raptors on March 6 and has not played since. Without him, the team limped to a 7-11 finish and a spot in the play-in tournament. He did not play in the team’s loss to the Brooklyn Nets earlier this week in the first game of the play-in, but he is trending in the right direction.
Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Allen is “50-50” to play against the Hawks, though his final status will not be determined until closer to game time. If Allen can come back, even in a limited capacity, it would be a huge boost for the Cavs. They were 33-19 when Allen and Evan Mobley were both healthy in the regular season, and 11-15 when at least one of them was out.
John Collins (finger and foot sprains): Out
As for the Hawks, they will officially be without one of their key frontcourt players. The team announced on Thursday that power forward John Collins will remain sidelined due to finger and foot sprains. He has played in just four games since mid-February.
While the Hawks have played some good basketball down the stretch without Collins, they would obviously love to have him back as he’s a big part of what they do on both…
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