Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Collin Sexton (ankle sprain) will miss his team’s matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday night.
Sexton was ruled out shortly before the game was set to tip-off. Wing Damyean Dotson will start in Sexton’s place for the Cavs, per Kelsey Russo of The Athletic.
Earlier on Thursday, reports indicated that Sexton was expected to take the court against the Grizzlies, and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said that he thought Sexton would be available. Instead, he was a late scratch.
Sexton has been the Cavs’ best player through eight games. The third-year pro is averaging 25.1 points per game on red-hot .531/.516/.829 shooting splits. He’s also posting 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Sexton had 21 points, four assists, and three rebounds in Cleveland’s loss to the Orlando Magic on Wednesday. It’s possible that the team is being extra-cautious with Sexton on the second leg of a back-to-back.
The 22-year old’s early-season performance, alongside the play of his backcourt mate, Darius Garland, has injected the Cavs franchise with new levels of optimism in 2020-21. I
Garland, 20, is averaging 17.2 PPG and 6.3 APG in his second NBA season, on .455/.469/.889 splits.
The Cavs drafted Sexton with the no. 8 pick in the 2018 Draft, and Garland with the no. 5 overall pick in the 2019 draft.
Garland (shoulder) and Dante Exum (calf) are both out again for Cleveland on Thursday.
Lile Sexton, Dotson tweaked his ankle during the Magic matchup on Wednesday, but he was able to lace it up for the second leg of the back-to-back. Dotson is averaging 5.7 PPG in seven appearances this season, entering Thursday.