The Cleveland Cavaliers released an injury update on Darius Garland on Tuesday morning. He aggravated his left toe injury in Monday night's overtime loss to the Miami Heat and couldn't finish the game, leaving midway through the third quarter. Luckily for the wine and gold, Garland only suffered a bruise.
In the team's press release, the Cavs announced that Garland suffered a left great toe contusion when he made incidental contact with Heat forward Nikola Jovic on a drive to the basket. He was evaluated after the game and the next morning.
The Cavs announced that he and several other members of the squad will miss Wednesday's rematch with the Heat.
“Garland will receive daily treatment and continue with the established post-surgery management plan,” the team said. “He is listed as OUT for tonight's game in Miami and his return to play availability will be updated as appropriate.”
Seeing how he reacted on the floor the other night, this update is as positive as it gets for Cleveland and its fan base. Garland simply had a minor setback in his third game back from recovery.
“This is all a part of the progress; progress isn't linear,” Donovan Mitchell said on Monday night. “You're gonna have days where you feel great, and you're gonna have moments like this. The biggest thing is how can we continue to progress and staying with it, staying with your routine and not getting deflated. But in those moments, I know it's tough. It sucks, man. It's tough to see, seeing all the work that he put into it.”
In addition to Garland, Cleveland has chosen to rest Mitchell and Evan Mobley because of the minute load each had on Monday, in addition to Wednesday's tilt being the first night of a road-home back-to-back. The Toronto Raptors will be waiting at Rocket Arena at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.
The Cavs will have to move forward in the short term with Lonzo Ball, Craig Porter Jr., and rookie Tyrese Proctor to pick up for their teammate. How long that will be is still undetermined; knowing Kenny Atkinson and his performance staff, they may handle this as delicately as possible.
The fact that there wasn't a reinjury to Garland means that the franchise dodged a bullet — and can exhale.
