On Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers will square off against the Brooklyn Nets inside the Barclays Center, but it sounds like they will be without a key member of their rotation.
According to a report from Joe Vardon of cleveland.com, Cavs guard Dwyane Wade, who recently accepted a bench role, will not play in tonight’s game due to a left knee contusion.
Wade, now 35 years of age, came off the bench in the Cavs’ 119-112 win over the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night, where he recorded 11 points and four assists in his 19 minutes of playing time.
Via Joe Vardon of cleveland.com:
“I didn’t want to overplay him tonight because we have a back-to-back tomorrow,” Coach Lue said after Tuesday night’s game. “Once we got the lead and he asked to come out in that third quarter when he got a little winded, I tried to keep him on the bench as long as I could. Knowing we have a back-to-back tomorrow, gotta keep him fresh.”
Through Cleveland’s first four games of the 2017-18 season, “Flash,” as Wade is known, has turned in averages of 7.0 points on 38 percent shooting from the field, 3.5 assists, and 2.3 rebounds. Without Wade’s services, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue will likely ask Iman Shumpert and Kyle Korver to play a bit more than they normally would.
The Cavs, who are currently leading the Central Division with a 3-1 record, will also be playing tonight’s game without former MVP Derrick Rose. As most fans of the team know, Rose suffered a sprained ankle last week in a game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Although his injury doesn’t seem to be too serious, coach Lue and his medical staff elected to hold the crafty ball-handler out of the following two games for precautionary measures.
Tonight’s game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. EST tip, with Fox Sports Ohio and the YES Network having live broadcast coverage.
