Sunday night’s matchup between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Minnesota Timberwolves was supposed to be the first time former Utah Jazz teammates Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were going to face off against each other after their high-profile offseason break-up. Unfortunately for the Cavs, Mitchell has all of a sudden popped up on the injury report with an ankle injury.
According to the NBA’s official injury report, the Cavs have listed Mitchell as questionable for Sunday’s contest with a right ankle strain. This does not bode well for Mitchell’s chances of suiting up against the Timberwolves as he’s now in danger of missing his second game of the season for Cleveland.
This actually doesn’t come as a huge surprise considering the nature by which Mitchell injured his ankle on Friday night against the Golden State Warriors. Mitchell drove hard to the hoop in the dying second of the match only to fall to the ground after he twisting his right ankle. The Cavs star looked like he was in considerable pain, and while he was able to stay in the game, he had a visible limp heading into the locker room after the loss.
Here’s a look at the play in question:
Rudy Gobert has himself spoken out about the prospect of facing his former Utah Jazz teammate in Donovan Mitchell, and the Timberwolves big man admitted that it was going to be a “weird” experience. Unfortunately, it seems like we’re all going to need to wait a bit more before these two go at it on the basketball court.