The Cleveland Cavaliers will not have Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, or Jaylon Tyson for Wednesday night's rematch with the Miami Heat at the Kaseya Center. Those four will join Max Strus on the sidelines, but only two of them are injured.
Mitchell and Mobley are being held out for rest purposes, while Garland has a left great toe injury that he reaggravated on Monday. Despite playing 31 minutes in the first game, Jaylon Tyson suffered a concussion after falling backward into teammate Sam Merrill's knee.
Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson is clearly erring on the side of caution as per usual. Cleveland and Miami went to overtime in a 140-138 affair, where Mitchell logged a game-high 41 minutes with Mobley right behind him at 39. Seeing Garland leave the game early and being unable to continue could have also influenced this decision for the rematch.
All three of Cleveland's two-way contract players — Luke Travers, Nae'Qwan Tomlin, and Chris Livingston — will be active. Larry Nance Jr.'s status is still in question with a left knee contusion.
The Cavs will be asking everybody to step up in the absence of their core players. Jarrett Allen is the lone member of the Core Four who will be on the court. De'Andre Hunter should be the lead scoring threat for the wine and gold, along with Merrill. Other contributors, such as Lonzo Ball, Craig Porter Jr., Dean Wade, and rookie Tyrese Proctor, are going to have to be ready to provide an extra lift. We'll likely see Thomas Bryant get run, too.
Meanwhile, the Heat plan to suit up their guys who played just as much as Cleveland's guys. Though Jaime Jaquez Jr., Davion Mitchell, Kel'el Ware, and Dru Smith are dealing with nagging injuries, they're all listed as available on the injury report. Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro remain out with a sprained left big toe and left ankle surgery recovery, respectively.
