Heading into their road stop in Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz, the banged-up Cleveland Cavaliers added a new face to the injury report in Cavs star Donovan Mitchell.
Mitchell, who has been battling a bothersome left knee for the last month, won't face his former team in the first game in a road back-to-back. While the timing might seem inopportune considering how close the playoffs are, Mitchell remains hobbled by the injury, keeping him from having the usual explosiveness and speed that allows him to dominate opponents offensively.
This knee injury, along with a nasal fracture that required surgery, has held Mitchell to only seven appearances after the All-Star break. In those limited appearances, Mitchell is averaging just 16.9 points on 37.1% from the field and 42.9% from 3-point range to go with 5.0 assists and 3.7 rebounds. More worryingly, Mitchell has scored more than 20 points only once in those seven games, scoring 31 much-needed points in a tight home win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Shutting Spida down is the best thing to do for Cavs
Clearly, sitting Mitchell against the Jazz is the right call – even if the decision wasn't the easiest to make.
“It’s a tough balance,” said head coach J.B. Bickerstaff after Cleveland's loss to the Denver Nuggets. “I know he wants to play and be out there with his teammates and we just have to work around it to figure out both sides of it so he’s getting the best and the team is getting the best as well. Those are conversations we will have. But we have not had any kind of conversations about him sitting out at this point.”
Again, it cannot be understated how much Mitchell doesn't look anything like the MVP-caliber player he was for Cleveland earlier this season. While it's been a delicate balancing act all season long injury-wise for Cleveland and not having a 100% Mitchell on the court is hurting them more at times versus not having him at all.
He's been struggling to get past opposing defenders and the paint, somewhere Mitchell thrives, has become something of a no-man's land. When he gets there, he struggles to finish at the rim and has instead settled for inefficient midrange attempts or three-pointers that aren't falling.
In the season’s second half, when his knee started to bother him, 56 of Mitchell’s 97 attempts were from 3-point range. That’s around 58% of his total shots.
That number was much lower in the first half of the season, roughly 44%. Mitchell has taken just 12 total shots inside the restricted area during the second half of the season, making only four of them and getting blocked six times.
The more Mitchell is out there, the more it's clear he needs more time to rest his bothersome knee. Although he also needs valuable on-court reps, especially with so few regular season games left, Cleveland needs Mitchell to be physically able to play when the games matter most during the playoffs.
That's because injuries have plagued the Cavs all season and while they've all come at inopportune moments, the balancing act for Mitchell and his knee takes the cake. Cleveland can and will only go as far as Mitchell can carry them, especially when things roll into the playoffs.
So, if Mitchell isn't 100%, the Cavs could see their season end much sooner than expected for the second year in a row if they don't prioritize his health. Looking ahead, it'll be worth keeping an eye on whether or not he plays the second game in this back-to-back against the Phoenix Suns or sits during this weekend's upcoming back-to-back against the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers.
Follow Us
Subscribe