The Cleveland Cavaliers have been up and down so far to open up the 2025-26 NBA season, currently sitting at 12-8 after a recent frustrating road loss at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. Up next for the Cavs is a home game on Sunday evening against the Boston Celtics, and the team will be shorthanded when they hit the floor for that matchup.
Earlier in the day on Sunday, the Cavs announced on X, formerly Twitter, that backup forward Larry Nance Jr. had sustained a Grade 1 soleus strain in the loss vs the Hawks and will be out of the lineup for 3-4 weeks.
Meanwhile, center Jarrett Allen will also be out against the Celtics with a finger strain. Sam Merrill will also continue to be out of the lineup.
Overall, the Cavs could use a get-right game as they continue to look to reassume their position from last regular season at the top of the Eastern Conference standings. Darius Garland is still rounding into form after missing some time with various ailments this year, and some have been underwhelmed with the performance of Evan Mobley so far this year, at least compared to his lofty expectations.
The good news is that they’ll be facing off against a Celtics team that is on the second night of a back-to-back after losing a hard-fought game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.
Boston of course will be without Jayson Tatum for the matchup, still rehabbing his torn Achilles from last year’s playoffs.
In any case, the Cavs and Celtics are set to tip things off on Sunday evening at 6:00 pm ET.
