The Cleveland Cavaliers will attempt to even up their second-round series without Donovan Mitchell.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Mitchell will miss Monday night’s Game 4 against the Boston Celtics with a left calf strain. Cleveland listed the All-Star as questionable after he skipped morning shootarounds.
Playing 43 minutes, Mitchell scored 33 points in Saturday’s Game 3 loss. He appeared to be limping during the fourth quarter.
J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters, “We’ll see” when addressing the status of Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, who has yet to play this series due to injured ribs.
“Toward the back end of that fourth quarter, it just started to build on him,” Bickerstaff said of Mitchell’s calf on Monday, per SB Nation’s Noa Dalzell. “It just became sore.”
Cleveland already faced a steep task in upsetting the Celtics, who have notched six playoff victories by 126 combined points following a 64-win regular season. The Cavaliers now must avoid a 3-1 deficit without their star player.
Mitchell has averaged 29.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game this postseason. The 27-year-old has made 16 of 30 three-point attempts this series.
Bickerstaff said his team can’t rely on any one player to fill the void without Mitchell in a huge home game.
“Not one person, obviously, is going to replace what Donovan does for us,” he said. “But everybody’s just got to take up whatever their strength is, whatever their skill set is. They got to go out and be the most competent version of themselves tonight. But again, we’ll always do it together.”
Game 4 starts at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.