Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who hasn’t played since March 16 while he recovers from a nagging knee injury and a nasal fracture, is hoping to return to action as early as Friday, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). After playing in Charlotte on Wednesday, the Cavs will return home to host the Sixers on Friday.
If Mitchell isn’t able to suit up vs. Philadelphia, his next opportunity to return would be on Sunday in Denver for the start of a five-game Western Conference road trip. The Cavs will also visit Utah, Phoenix, and Los Angeles (to play both the Lakers and Clippers) on that trip before wrapping up the regular season with three home games.
Cleveland is in a battle for playoff positioning in the East and currently holds a narrow lead on New York for the No. 3 seed. At 44-28, the Cavs have a half-game cushion on the 43-28 Knicks, who would hold the tiebreaker edge if the team finish with identical records.
Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:
- Lakers forward LeBron James has officially been listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game vs. Memphis (Twitter link via Jovan Buha of The Athletic). However, Dave McMenamin of ESPN, confirming previous reporting, tweets that James remains on track to be available for that contest.
- There’s a chance that Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke will be able to make his 2023/24 debut in that game against the Lakers. Clarke, who has spent the season recovering from an Achilles tear, has been upgraded to questionable, per the team (Twitter link).
- Celtics guard Jrue Holiday participated in practice on Wednesday after missing the team’s past five games due to a right shoulder injury, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. It’s unclear whether Holiday will be available on Thursday vs. Atlanta.
- Providing updates on a pair of injured Heat players, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link) that Duncan Robinson (back) should return within the next week or so but that “the big worry” is Tyler Herro (foot), who still doesn’t have a return timeline. For what it’s worth, Herro replied to Charania’s report with a “cap” emoji, sarcastically adding in a follow-up tweet, “I just had a great workout , but I ain’t coming back no time soon.”
- Pistons center Jalen Duren will return on Wednesday in Minnesota vs. the Timberwolves following a three-game absence due to back spasms, tweets Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.