Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star center Jarrett Allen suffered a fractured finger during the first quarter of his team’s 104-96 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.
Allen will be sidelined indefinitely by the injury to the middle finger on his left (non-shooting) hand, the team announced. Allen also suffered a bruised left quad in Sunday’s game.
Allen, who had six points and two rebounds in 10 minutes Sunday, is averaging a career-best 16.1 points and 10.8 rebounds this season.
The Cavs have been ravaged by injuries for months, losing leading scorer Collin Sexton and veteran guard Ricky Rubio to season-ending knee injuries. All-Star guard Darius Garland has been dealing with a back bruise, and the Cavs are still without guards Rajon Rondo and Caris LeVert.
The news on Allen is a tough blow for a team trying to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018. Without the 7-footer, rookie Evan Mobley will be asked to do even more, and the Cavs will be faced with yet another challenge.
“I’ll have to play more big and Kevin Love will play my position,” Mobley said Sunday. “It will just shift down the line. We still got three bigs — me, K-Love and Lauri (Markkanen). We’re still a very big team and we can play a similar way.”
The Cavaliers (37-27) are currently in the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race, three games ahead of the Raptors (34-30).
The Associated Press contributed to this report.