5:59 pm: All three injured Cavaliers will be active for Friday’s Game 3, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
Head coach Kenny Atkinson said during his pregame media session that there wouldn’t be a set minutes limit for Garland, Mobley, or Hunter, but that the team would make that decision over the course of the night based on “feel” and “communication” (Twitter link via Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star).
8:28 am: The Cavaliers played without three of their best players in Tuesday’s Game 2, in which Cleveland blew a seven-point lead with under a minute remaining to fall in a 0-2 hole in its second-round series vs. Indiana. Darius Garland has missed the past four games with a left great toe sprain, while both Evan Mobley (left ankle sprain) and De’Andre Hunter (dislocated/sprained right thumb) were injured in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
All three of the injured Cavaliers are officially listed as questionable for Friday’s Game 3 in Indianapolis, just like they were for Game 2 prior to being ruled out. However, two league sources tell Joe Vardon of The Athletic that the Cavs are optimistic the trio will attempt to suit up tonight.
“They participated in the walk-through and we’re hoping for the best,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said Thursday. “I think it’s frustrating for all of us, right? It’s no indictment on anybody, it’s just, injuries are a tough thing and you don’t really know unless you experience it yourself.”
As Vardon observes, even if the three players are able to play, it remains to be seen how effective they’ll be. A source tells Vardon that the swelling on Hunter’s thumb has decreased, but Mobley and Garland appeared to be hobbled during Thursday’s walk-through.
Sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com that Garland continues to deal with pain and swelling in his toe, which he aggravated in the team’s first-round series against Miami. The injury has made it “incredibly difficult” for the All-Star point guard to make any “sharp movements,” Fedor writes.
“He desperately wants to get on the court,” Atkinson said of Garland. “It’s just kind of in these situations I just kind of, I step back. I support him 100%, whichever way it goes. I think he’s probably like, ‘I’ve got to get to a certain point where I can compete at a high-intensity playoff level.’ That type of intensity is tough to simulate. I guess at some point hopefully he will get out there and try it. But obviously couldn’t run or anything.”