Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley likely to miss extended time with ankle sprain
By Shams Charania, Joe Vardon and Jason Lloyd
Cleveland Cavaliers starting forward Evan Mobley is likely headed for another extended absence due to injury, this time because of a sprained left ankle suffered in an improbable win Tuesday over the Boston Celtics, multiple league sources told The Athletic.
Mobley has to wait for the significant swelling to subside for an official timeline, but one source said âit will be some timeâ and another said he âwill be out awhile.â
Mobley suffered the injury on a successful dunk with 5:29 left in the third quarter of the Cavsâ 105-104 win over the Celtics, in which they overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Mobleyâs teammate, Sam Merrill, committed a foul after Mobley turned his ankle so the Cavs could get him out of the game, and he was escorted back to the locker room. Mobley left Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on crutches, and was ruled out for the teamâs game Wednesday night in Atlanta.
Mobley, an All-NBA defender who is averaging 15.6 points and 10.2 rebounds this season, missed six weeks from mid-December until late January due to minor knee surgery. His replacement in Tuesdayâs win, Dean Wade, scored 20 of his 23 points during Clevelandâs furious fourth-quarter comeback.
The Cavs are also playing without starters Donovan Mitchell (left knee) and Max Strus (right knee) this week, who along with Mobley make up three-fifths of their usual starting lineup.
Cleveland enters tonightâs game a half-game behind Milwaukee for second place in the East.
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(Photo: Ken Blaze / USA Today)
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