Garland and Mitchell are expected to play after having injury scares on Wednesday.
The Cleveland Cavaliers will be mostly healthy when they take on Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. That didn’t seem like it would be the case midway through the third quarter of Tuesday’s game with the Washington Wizards. Both Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland went to the locker room with injuries.
Mitchell briefly left the game with a shoulder injury. Kenny Atkinson described it as a stinger postgame. He was able to return and deliver the knockout blow to the Wizards shortly after going to the locker room.
Garland was evaluated for a concussion after running into Jonas Valanciunas. He didn’t return to the game but said that he was okay in the locker room afterward.
While it was clear that neither Garland nor Mitchell were seriously injured, it’s encouraging to know that they aren’t being held out of Thursday’s game even as a precaution. The same is true for Dean Wade who is also absent from the injury report after returning from his ankle injury.
Ty Jerome missed Tuesday’s game against Washington with an illness and could miss his second straight. He’s listed as questionable with an illness again.
Jerome is in the midst of the best season of his career. He was on a heater before cooling off in his last few games. He’s currently averaging 11.8 points and 3.6 assists in 18.8 minutes per game on .570/.500/.895 shooting splits.
Max Strus is once again out for the Cavs. He hasn’t played yet this season due to a right ankle sprain.
Aaron Gordon is listed on the injury report for the Denver Nuggets as probable with a right calf strain.