Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection on Monday to treat a left knee bone bruise that caused him to miss Cleveland’s past two games against Detroit and New York, the team announced (Twitter link).
Mitchell will be listed as out for the Cavs’ next three games, on March 5 against Boston, on March 6 at Atlanta, and March 8 versus Minnesota, according to the release.
His status will be reevaluated over the weekend and will be updated as appropriate.
Mitchell is an integral part of a strong Cavaliers team that ranks third in the Eastern Conference at 39-21. He’s averaging 28.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.2 assists while shooting 47.2% from the floor and 37.1% from three.
The All-Star guard being out for games against the top-ranked teams in the East (Boston) and West (Minnesota) obviously isn’t ideal for a club that’s just a half-game behind Milwaukee for second in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs are 3.5 games ahead of the fourth-seeded Knicks.
It’s also worth noting that Mitchell’s injury absence means he’s in danger of falling short of the 65-game minimum to qualify for postseason awards. He has missed 13 games so far this season — that number will increase to at least 16 in the coming days. Eighteen missed contests would render him ineligible for All-NBA consideration.
Worth noting Mitchell has missed 13 games this season.
This would bring his total to 16.
He could only miss one additional game to qualify for awards (All-NBA)
Hah, just saw this after editing the story to add that. Good call.
Guess he could just limp around for 15 minutes in every game he’d miss pass his 17th to meet the arbitrary minimum games required.
Tough win by Knicks. Cavs younger talent has to step up. DM needs help. I still like Cavs. Knicks sent a message in this gm. It was a bench win, grinder. Knicks bench tougher than Cavs bench,,,,,,,, right.
While Mobley and Garland were out the team developed a new identity that was completely dependent on Mitchell. Take Mitchell out and they struggled to adjust. That’s not a good excuse. That said this Cavaliers team seams to be at their ir best against strong er teams like the Celtics and Bucks. They tend to not bring their A game against teams they expect to beat. Not that the Knicks are weak but they appear to be a Mash unit as of late. The injury to Brunson may have caused them to relax mentally. Which is the opposite of what they needed to do to beat a deep Knicks team. Both teams were missing 4 rotation pieces but the Knicks were without 4 starters. That said Mobley, Allen, Okoro and Merrill played well. The Cav’s lost because Niang and Wade went a combined 0 for 10 from deep. Garland also is no longer used to running the offense . Garland is regaining his shot but he had been letting Mitchell and LeVert handle playmaking chores. I think the Cav’s missed a golden opportunity to get the monkey off their back by beating the Knicks. That said it could benefit them in the post season. Teams may take them lightly after watching them lose in some high profile games this month. They should be back to their new ways when Mitchell and LeVert return. Whether they can beat the Knicks with both teams healthy is TBDL.