.Cleveland Cavaliers star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell had Cavs fans holding their collective breath when he exited Sunday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings after hurting his left ankle in the third quarter. However, fears about a major injury were immediately suppressed when he returned to action following a brief trip to the locker room.
Mitchell and the Cavs ended up suffering a 120-113 loss to Zach LaVine and the Kings at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, thus also being on the wrong end of a 2-0 regular-season sweep in the matchup. But at the very least, the Cavs can feel relief over what Mitchell said about his ankle following Cleveland’s defeat at the hands of Sacramento.
“Never been better,” the former Louisville Cardinals star said when asked if will be able to give it a go this coming Tuesday against the Chicago Bulls at home (h/t Evan Dammarell). “I’m going to let tomorrow be tomorrow and work from there,” the 28-year-old Mitchell added.
Mitchell led all Cavs starters in the Kings game with 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting from the floor. He didn’t have his touch from behind the arc, connecting on only one of his six 3-point attempts but had six assists, six rebounds and two steals in 33 minutes.
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t seem too bothered by Mitchell tweaking his ankle versus the Kings, saying that he believes the six-time NBA All-Star is fine after seeing the guard play in the final quarter (h/t Dammarell).
On the season, Mitchell is averaging 24.0 points, 5.0 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game while posting a 44.3 field goal percentage and 36.8 3-point percentage.
Cleveland could take a conservative approach with Mitchell and just let him rest for the remainder of the regular season, though, it’s worth noting that the Cavaliers have yet to lock up the top seed in the Eastern Conference. A Cleveland win or a loss by the Boston Celtics will give the Cavs the No. 1 seed in the East.
The Cavaliers also can’t afford to lose any of their remaining four games if they are to tie the franchise record for most victories in a regular season. LeBron James and the 2008-09 Cavs hold the record with a 66-16 win-loss slate.
