Before tipping off against the Toronto Raptors to commence Group A play in the Emirates NBA Cup, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson provided a wave of updates on Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen, and Darius Garland. Both Mitchell and Allen are out for Friday night's game, their first missed action of the season.
They'll join Sam Merrill on the sidelines as the latest Cavs to hit the inactive list.
Mitchell attended Cleveland's morning shootaround and underwent treatment, followed by further evaluation of the tightness in his left hamstring.
Atkinson said that Allen's injury occurred on a freak halftime injury in Boston, where Dean Wade swished a shot that landed directly on his hand: “Jarrett was saying, ‘I could see if it was like a brick that I’d be mad about it, but the fact that it went right in, what are you going to do?' It's just one of those things.”
Coming off a regular season at the top of the Eastern Conference with multiple 15-game winning streaks, Atkinson knows that the team's injury luck couldn't repeat itself in consecutive campaigns.
“Listen, we were the picture of health last year,” Atkinson said. “We say that's the biggest reason we won 64 games – not our system, not anything else. That was the biggest reason. So I'd rather go through this now than later in the year or towards playoff time.”
Darius Garland's return to the Cavs is on the horizon
Garland, on the other hand, is on the mend and “getting close.” Unlike those two, he went through the team's full shootaround.
As ClutchPoints reported Thursday, Garland has been taking part in full scrimmages as a return draws nearer. Atkinson did caution against him playing as soon as Sunday, though.
“I've made that mistake before,” Atkinson said. “And this is just my side, just watching him on the court. I think there's been no setbacks, not even any soreness or anything. I think he gets frustrated a little that he's not making every shot and his basketball is maybe a little off right now, but we don't care about that. Just happy, so far, so good in terms of everything he's done. He's buying into everything we've asked of him, but I think we're getting close here.”
Atkinson said that putting Garland in such an environment was intentional.
“We made sure they got up and down,” Atkinson said. “It wasn't just drills. They did some drills, but he hooped. We kept our two-ways back [in Cleveland] so they could get in the scrimmage with him, make it really as game-like as we possibly can in that scenario.
“He's obviously No. 1 priority in terms of getting him back on the court.”
