Cavaliers big man Evan Mobley missed his first game of the 2023-24 season on Friday due to left knee soreness. The third-year forward/center also didn’t participate in the team’s shootaround, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (subscriber link), who reports that Mobley could miss multiple games with the injury, though that depends on how he responds to treatment.
The Cavs’ next game is Monday in Orlando, so Mobley will have a couple more days to determine how he’s feeling, Fedor notes. Forward Dean Wade started in Mobley’s place during Friday’s victory in Miami.
Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Reigning MVP Joel Embiid will be reevaluated on Saturday after sustaining a left leg injury in the Sixers‘ victory over Atlanta on Friday, passes along Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Embiid grabbed at his knee after falling on a drive, Vorkunov adds, but he was able to play through it while favoring his left leg.
- Knicks guard Jalen Brunson sustained an injury to his lower left leg after stepping on Payton Pritchard‘s foot with 21 seconds remaining and the Knicks down 12 to Boston, per New York Basketball (X video link). The team’s leading scorer was able to head to the locker room under his own power, but had a noticeable limp. Head coach Tom Thibodeau said he didn’t regret having Brunson in the game, despite the loss being all but guaranteed (X link via Stefan Bondy of The New York Post). Brunson didn’t speak to the media afterward, notes Steve Popper of Newsday.
- Suns wing Nassir Little took a hard fall in the first quarter of Friday’s contest vs. Sacramento and appeared to be woozy after the incident, according to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic (X link). Little was later ruled out of the remainder of the contest, as he’s being evaluated for a concussion. He could be sidelined for multiple games if he did indeed sustain a concussion.
- Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. exited Friday’s game with a left foot contusion. As Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca observes (via X), that’s the same foot that caused Porter to miss most of last season after he had surgery. This injury hopefully isn’t serious, however, as X-rays were negative, per Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (X link).
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