Donovan Mitchell Out Third Straight Game, Cavs Sharpshooter Questionable
The Cleveland Cavaliers are back in action on Saturday night as they head on the road for two games during the holiday season. First up, it's the Chicago Bulls in the Windy City before flying south for a battle with the Dallas Mavericks.
Unfortunately on Saturday, the Cavs know they'll be without their star guard in Donovan Mitchell, who is still feeling under the weather. This will be the third consecutive game that he's missed because of an illness.
Luckily, the Cavs were able to handle the Utah Jazz, Mitchell's first game on the sidelines, because of a collective effort as a team and the red-hot hand of Sam Merrill. Thursday, they were not able to fend off the New Orleans Pelicans, who were long and switch-heavy on the defensive end.
And while Cleveland didn't necessarily struggle on the offensive end of the floor, the squad wasn't nearly as potent. Part of the reason is because Merrill — who nailed 13-of-24 threes in two games — was playing through an injury in the first half. Before the contest, the wine-and-gold listed him as questionable with right wrist soreness.
Well, Merrill was unable to finish the Pelicans game because of that.
"That's just one of those things, you know? I've heard other people say it's just something about Cleveland," Jarrett Allen said in jest after Thursday's loss. "But like everybody else in Cleveland on the other teams, you've just got to pull up your pants and go to work."
“When it rains, it pours," Dean Wade added. It sucks, but we still got to go out there and play a game and we’ve got. I don't know how many healthy bodies we’ve got, but we still just got to go out there and fight.”
Dec 18, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) and guard Sam Merrill (5) celebrate in overtime against the Houston Rockets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
On Friday's injury report released in the evening, the Cavs diagnosed Merrill with a right wrist sprain. He will be questionable for Saturday evening's tilt in Chicago as a result.
Regardless of whether or not Merrill gives it a go, the wine-and-gold will play the strength-in-numbers game as the team has since Darius Garland and Evan Mobley went down.
