Donovan Mitchell, the star player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, isn't known for his patience, but he's realizing that toughing it out with his left knee.
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Donovan Mitchell, the star player for the Cleveland Cavaliers, isn’t known for his patience, but he’s realizing that toughing it out with his left knee bone bruise isn’t cutting it. So, it’s likely he’ll take a break when the Cavs hit the court against the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
Mitchell’s knee bruise was obviously bothering him on Saturday. He only played for 26 minutes in a 117-103 loss to the Houston Rockets. This was his second game back after missing seven games straight.
In four out of his last five games with Cleveland, Mitchell has scored less than 20 points. Cleveland currently sits at the third seed in the Eastern Conference.
If Mitchell has to sit out more games, Coach J.B. Bickerstaff trusts his team to adapt. He’s sure they’ll need to work together as a team to make up for Mitchell’s scoring when he’s not on the court.
For the Pacers, Mathurin and McDermott will not be playing the game due to injuries. As for the Cavaliers, Jerome, Mobley, Mitchell, and Strus will be sitting this one out due to injuries.
The Cavs got a lift on Saturday when Tristan Thompson came back after serving a 25-game suspension in the NBA for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He came off the bench, played for 15 minutes, and ended up with five points and five rebounds.
Cleveland lost both times they faced Indiana this season, with their most recent loss being a 121-116 defeat on the road back in November. The Pacers kept their sixth spot in the East after beating the Brooklyn Nets 121-100 at home on Saturday. Pascal Siakam led the charge with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Aaron Nesmith pitched in 16 points.
Point guard Tyrese Haliburton’s been having a tough time hitting his 3-pointers lately, but he’s making up for it by contributing across the board. Over his last 10 games, he’s been putting up an average of 17.6 points and dishing out 10 assists.
Siakam’s been fitting right in with the Pacers since he came over in the trade from the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 17. In the win against Brooklyn, he nailed 11 out of 22 shots and grabbed 11 rebounds. Plus, he chipped in with four assists and three steals.
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