As if things weren’t going badly enough for the Cleveland Cavaliers, another one of their star players has been added to the injury report. On Saturday, the team announced that Evan Mobley injured his left calf in Friday’s win over the Washington Wizards. It’s a Grade 1 calf strain. This is expected to sideline him for two to four weeks.
Being out for the next two weeks would mean Mobley would miss seven games against the following opponents: Charlotte Hornets (twice), Chicago Bulls (twice), New Orleans
Pelicans, New York Knicks, and Houston Rockets. This would include missing Cleveland’s Christmas matchup in New York.
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This injury weakens an already thin center rotation. Jarrett Allen was a full participant in practice earlier this week. Separate finger injuries on both of his hands have made it difficult for him to catch the ball. We’ll see if this injury forces Allen back into play sooner than the team would like.
Larry Nance Jr. is also out with a calf injury. The initial diagnosis was for him to miss three to four weeks. Based on that estimation, he’s still over a week away from his earliest return date.
The Cavs don’t have many other options to turn to at this time. Thomas Bryant would likely step in as a starter. Dean Wade would also need to take on additional minutes at center. Needless to say, these aren’t ideal options for a team that is already struggling defensively.
Mobley might not have had the leap forward some were expecting, but he’s been incredibly important to the Cavs this season. Cleveland has been 9.4 points per 100 possessions better with him on the court this season (85th percentile). When he’s off the court, the Cavs have registered a -3.3 net rating (39th percentile) and a 117.7 defensive rating (39th percentile).
On the season, Mobley is averaging 19.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game on 49.6% shooting from the field and 35.2% shooting from three.
