The Cleveland Cavaliers played one of their most complete games of the season in their win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday evening. Unfortunately for Cleveland, two key players, Darius Garland and Sam Merrill, left the game with injuries.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t have much of an update on either player when asked about it after the win. He said both would probably be “doubtful” for the next game, which is in Philadelphia on Friday.
Garland left the game in the third quarter with a right
foot injury that occurred while fighting for a loose ball. The injury is fortunately in the opposite foot of the one that required surgery this past offseason. Atkinson mistakenly said that Garland’s injury was in the same toe when asked about it postgame. That’s good news.
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Still, the severity of Garland’s injury is unknown at this time.
“I don’t think it’s great for next game, but I can’t tell you right now…what this looks like longer term,” Atkinson said.
Garland is averaging 18 points and 6.9 assists per game with .451/.360/.861 shooting splits in 26 outings.
Merrill left Wednesday’s game in the second quarter with a right hand injury. That is the same hand that was injured in November and caused him to miss over a month of games, and he wasn’t pain-free when he did return to the lineup. Atkinson said at the end of December that he couldn’t even shake Merrill’s hand after games because of the pain he was in.
Merrill is having the best season of his career. He’s averaging 13.8 points on .470/.455/.882 shooting splits in 24 games this season.
