The Cleveland Cavaliers are set to kick off their playoff push with a Game 1 matchup against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday afternoon. Though they’ve dealt with several injuries this season, it seems like most of Cleveland’s players are on the mend, including Rodney Hood and Kyle Korver.
Hood, who was held out of the Cavs’ previous two games due to a sore left Achilles, is scheduled to start at shooting guard in Sunday’s game, according to a report from Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com.
Rodney Hood will start at shooting guard for the Cavaliers in Game 1 of this first-round series against the Pacers, coach Tyronn Lue said.
In his 21 appearances with the Cavs this season, Hood has racked up averages of 10.3 points on 44.2 percent shooting from the field (35.2 percent from beyond the arc), 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 0.7 steals in 25.3 minutes.
Vardon also noted that Kyle Korver is a go for Sunday’s Game 1 matchup, though he’ll be on a bit of a minutes restriction. Korver has been dealing with a sore foot for several weeks, but Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue said the former Creighton Blue Jay is “feeling good.”
“Not a concern because Steve (Spiro) and Kyke spoke about how he feels really good,” coach Lue said of Korver. “Just to be cautious, he’ll be on a minutes restriction tonight, but he said he feels great. He’s been moving great. Hopefully that continues.”
Korver, 37, played in 73 games with the Cavs this season, averaging 9.2 points on 45.9 percent shooting from the field (43.6 percent from downtown), 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 21.6 minutes.
Sunday’s game is scheduled to tip inside Quicken Loans Arena at 3:30 p.m. EST with ABC having live broadcast coverage.