The Cleveland Cavaliers played without Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland on Friday against the Detroit Pistons and it appears as if they may not be available for the second straight game. The Cavs begin their longest road trip of the season on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers and according to Chris Fedor of cleveland.com, both Mitchell and Garland are listed as questionable.
Donovan Mitchell initially injured his ankle during the Cavs’ win over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. He was able to finish out the game but was held out on Friday against the Pistons. Darius Garland had been out since the first game of the season when he suffered an eye injury against the Toronto Raptors. He returned to the lineup against the Celtics but hurt his knee. He too finished out the Celtics game but was held out on Friday.
If either player is out for an extended period of time, that would surely hurt the Cavs who are playing some of their best basketball. They are currently 7-1 and only behind the 8-0 Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference standings. Mitchell is enjoying a career-year since being traded from the Utah Jazz this off-season. He is currently putting up 31.1 points per game, 4.4 rebounds, 7.1 assists and 1.6 steals while shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 43.8 percent from three-point range. He has also been responsible for some of the top dunks of the season already.
Garland was an All-Star last season and alongside Mitchell they form one of the top backcourts in the league. In the two games he’s played thus far, he’s putting up 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 2.5 steals while shooting 41.7 percent from three-point range.