Cavaliers Announce Unfortunate Donovan Mitchell News Ahead of Playoffs

The team announced that Mitchell will miss Tuesday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls with an ankle injury. 

The All-Star shooting guard suffered the injury in Sunday night’s contest against the Sacramento Kings when he stepped on Keon Ellis’ foot and had to be taken to the locker room.

Mitchell returned to the game shortly after and played the entirety of the fourth quarter so the plan to hold him out against Chicago is most likely precautionary. 

However, the rhetoric from head coach Kenny Atkinson after the loss to the Kings suggests that there may be more to the story.

In his post-game media availability, the former NBA champion said he implored Mitchell to tell him if the ankle was still bothering him, to which he denied. 

Atkinson then said the former Utah Jazz guard would receive further evaluation, but he didn’t expect to uncover anything serious.

The fact that Mitchell returned to the game and is now being held out of the team’s next game could be interpreted as the injury flaring up. Or perhaps it really is just as simple as getting him some rest.

The Cavaliers are already at a disadvantage compared to other teams in terms of top-end talent, so they can’t afford a significant injury to their best player. 

They already got a taste of what it was like last year when Mitchell got hurt in the second round series against the Boston Celtics and subsequently lost the final two games.

The Cavaliers are hitting a rough patch at the worst time with their recent play and now Mitchell’s injury. Hopefully it isn’t a sign of things to come for a team that has looked so promising all season.