Hawks vs. Cavaliers Friday NBA play-in tournament injury report, odds: Jarrett Allen's status looms large on spread, total

The NBA season will end for either the Atlanta Hawks or Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday night in the final Eastern Conference play-in tournament game with the Hawks as short road favorites at Caesars Sportsbook. The loser starts preparing for next year and the winner has a first-round playoff date with the top-seeded Miami Heat. The big question for this matchup is the status of Cavs All-Star center Jarrett Allen. Click here for model picks.

During the regular season, Allen averaged career highs in points per game (16.1), rebounds (10.8), assists (1.7), steals, (0.79), minutes (32.3) and field-goal percentage (.677, 2nd in NBA). He also had a team-high 32 double-doubles and the Cavs were 26-6 in those games. However, Allen hasn't played since March 6 due to a fractured finger. The hope was he would return for Tuesday's first play-in game at Brooklyn but he wasn't able to and the Nets were dominant offensively with 115 points scored on 53.6 percent shooting. They also won the rebounding battle.

Allen reportedly will try to play tonight and the Cavs are simply a different defensive team with him – they ranked No. 1 in the league in scoring defense for a while. Cleveland held its opponents under 100 points 26 times this season (22-4), its most in a season since 2015-16.

The Cavs fell off a cliff when Allen and then Rookie of the Year favorite Evan Mobley went down injured – Mobley has been back for a bit. Allen had a defensive rating of 106.4 this season. For a point of comparison, three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert, who might win that award again, had a rating of 103.2.

Cleveland is 9-18 without Allen, including Tuesday, and had a regular-season defensive rating of 115.9 without Allen and 108.3 with. Entering the March 6 game when Allen was hurt, the Cavs' defensive rating of 106.5 was fourth in the league. From March 7 to the end of the regular season, their rating slipped to 117.3.

"What he does to protect the paint, his ability to switch, different matchups, keep people in front of you and stay out of rotations and those types of things, obviously, the defensive boards," coach JB Bickerstaff said. "And then, offensively, the pressure that he puts on the rim, and what that opens up for other people. When Jarrett is out, we are missing a ton."

The spread and total for this game have ping-ponged a bit as oddsmakers decide what to do with Allen perhaps playing. Atlanta was as high as a 3.5-point favorite and the total as high as 226. Now the Hawks are -2 and the total 223. ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that Allen considers himself "50-50" on returning to the lineup. The pain remains significant in his finger.

Atlanta will remain without John Collins and Lou Williams. Those were expected, but the bigger issue is that Bogdan Bogdanovic (left ankle sprain) is questionable. He averaged 15.1 points this season and had 13 points and a plus-17 rating in 25 minutes off the bench in the play-in win over Charlotte. He's the team's No. 1 bench threat. 

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