Kenny Atkinson said it is “too early” to know how serious Jarrett Allen’s knee injury is, and that Tyrese Proctor took “a pretty good twist,” after the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 124-116 to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night.
Jarrett Allen, Tyrese Proctor injury updates
Allen hurt his right knee late in the first quarter and did not return. He played seven minutes.
“I don’t know yet,” Atkinson said. “Too early to determine.” He said Allen will “get looked at tomorrow and see what it looks like.”
Allen told reporters after the game that he was “alright,” according to Heavy.
Proctor scored 11 points in 22 minutes before leaving the game. “Hopefully it’s not too bad,” Atkinson said. “Was a pretty good twist, though.”
Atkinson started Proctor to “get a different guy on Shai.” He said Proctor “has been really good defensively for us” and called the move “just a gut feel.”
“Solid defensively, makes the right plays offensively,” Atkinson said. “He’s definitely taken advantage of his minutes so far.”
He said injuries can reveal things about a roster. “You always discover more about your team,” Atkinson said, “because you have different guys get more minutes.”
First quarter sinks Cavs
Oklahoma City led 37-20 after the first quarter and by as many as 25 in the second. Cleveland won the second half 72-64.
Atkinson blamed the opening quarter. “You can’t come in on the road, especially against a really good team, and, you know, five turnovers,” he said. “I think four of them were live ball.”
He said Cleveland went “two for nine from three in that first” while Oklahoma City went “six for 10.” “The combination of turnovers, make or miss league, you know, that’s how the big separation happened,” Atkinson said.
The Cavaliers pulled within 117-111 with 46.7 seconds left after three straight 3-pointers from Donovan Mitchell, who scored 27. James Harden added 19 points, and Evan Mobley had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“Give the guys a lot of credit for fighting back, keeping our composure,” Atkinson said. “You’re in a situation like that, especially on the road, you could fold.”
“You can take one on the chin, lose by 40 here,” he said. “So, I’m going to take the positives.”
Still, he called the result “disappointing.” “Three quarters really solid play, and you have one quarter where you’re not up to par,” Atkinson said.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 42 points, two nights after his 43 and go-ahead 3-pointer beat Cleveland 117-112 on Monday. The Thunder (6-2) have now beaten the Cavaliers (4-4) twice in three nights.
Atkinson said Tristan Enaruna, who had four points in 16 minutes, earned his chance in practice. “We needed another body tonight,” he said. “He came in, gave us some good minutes.”
Cleveland hosts Philadelphia in an NBA Cup game Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
