Cavaliers HC Kenny Atkinson provides injury update on Donovan Mitchell

The Cleveland Cavaliers will face the Atlanta Hawks or Miami Heat in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs.

The Hawks and Heat will play each other on Friday in Atlanta in the final East play-in game. 

The Cavaliers, the No. 1 seed in the East, practiced on Thursday and star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell had “no restrictions,” per head coach Kenny Atkinson. 

Mitchell missed the final four games of the regular season with a minor ankle sprain.

“We did some live stuff today and he was full go,” Atkinson said. No restrictions. No take him out of practice. None of that.”

The Cavaliers did a good job of managing Mitchell’s minutes during the regular season.

They know they need a fresh and healthy “Spida” to win the 2025 championship. 

“Just for Donovan and really for our whole team, that was the most important thing — in terms of getting ready for these playoffs — was going into it healthy,” Atkinson said. “Really proud of the plan we had, how we managed guys, how they managed themselves, our performance team, our medical team. Tt’s such a group effort. There’s a lot of planning that goes into it. Now I feel really relieved. It’s probably more of a relief that we kind of did it. I think the guys are in a good place, ready to go.”

Mitchell appeared in 71 games for the Cavaliers in the regular season. He averaged 24.0 points 4.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting 44.3% from the field, 36.8% from beyond the arc and 82.3% from the free-throw line. 

Cleveland lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2024 playoffs. The franchise hasn’t been to the NBA Finals since 2018. 

The Cavaliers were first in the NBA in points per game and offensive rating in the regular season.

The players are extremely confident heading into the playoffs.