The Cavaliers played without three of their best players in Tuesday’s Game 2, in which Cleveland blew a seven-point lead with under a minute remaining to fall in a 0-2 hole in its second-round series vs. Indiana. Darius Garland has missed the past four games with a left great toe sprain, while both Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain) and De’Andre Hunter (dislocated/sprained right thumb) were injured in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
All three of the injured Cavaliers are officially listed as questionable for Friday’s Game 3 in Indianapolis, just like they were for Game 2 prior to being ruled out. However, two league sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic that the Cavs are optimistic the trio will attempt to suit up tonight.
“They participated in the walk-through and we’re hoping for the best,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said Thursday. “I think it’s frustrating for all of us, right? It’s no indictment on anybody, it’s just, injuries are a tough thing and you don’t really know unless you experience it yourself.”
As Vardon observes, even if the three players are able to play, it remains to be seen how effective they’ll be. A source tells Vardon that the swelling on Hunter’s thumb has decreased, but Mobley and Garland appeared to be hobbled during Thursday’s walk-through.
Sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that Garland continues to deal with pain and swelling in his toe, which he aggravated in the team’s first-round series against Miami. The injury has made it “incredibly difficult” for the All-Star point guard to make any “sharp movements,” Fedor writes.
“He desperately wants to get on the court,” Atkinson said of Garland. “It’s just kind of in these situations I just kind of, I step back. I support him 100%, whichever way it goes. I think he’s probably like, ‘I’ve got to get to a certain point where I can compete at a high-intensity playoff level.’ That type of intensity is tough to simulate. I guess at some point hopefully he will get out there and try it. But obviously couldn’t run or anything.”
It sure is tough to be down 3 starters.
I feel for Cavs fans. They come all this way this year and have a couple of very key guys go down. Devastating.
I Hope the guys on the floor can pick them up and win a game here instead of going down 0-3.
Don’t feel sorry for Cleveland it is what it is. Look at the Knicks last year during the Playoffs. Injuries unfortunately happen at the wrong time.
Yes, agreed. It’s next man up and I have very strong opinions on that.
Refs are not an excuse and injuries are not an excuse.
That’s why it’s not just about your five starters. You have to have a good bench in case things like this happen.
But it sure is rough when your star or stars go down. It’s disappointing.
It’s not an excuse, but I do feel for them and if it happened to the Knicks, I would feel for the Knicks too. It’s just a bummer.
To be fair, the Knicks injuries were most likely a result of the constant heavy minutes Thibs had played them, often unnecessarily. It was self inflicted.
The Cavs have managed their minutes probably better than any team in the league – they just got unlucky.
I see no need to feel bad for CLE due to these injuries, at least yet. Because it’s not the Knicks of last year, at least yet.
The difference is none of their 3 guys appear to be out indefinitely (and it appears one or more may make it back as soon as tonight). CLE just needs to hang in there, until one or all of them get back. Playing without any of the 3, they essentially had Game 2 won. If anything, I feel bad for CLE (particularly DM) over what happened at the end of that game.