Cavaliers ruled out six players ahead of Friday night matchup with Spurs

When the San Antonio Spurs roll into town tonight (Friday), the Cleveland Cavaliers will be short-handed – perhaps more so than ever.

It comes at the worst possible time, with the Cavs having lost four of their last five games and struggling to find any collective rhythm, as was evident in their loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.

And coming up against a strong Spurs side, who will be without the towering Victor Wembanyama due to a calf injury, Cleveland will also be without players. However, the injury list is extensive.

The Cavs will be without Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Sam Merrill, Max Strus, Larry Nance Jr. and Tyrese Proctor for the visit of San Antonio.

The Cavs will be without ALL of these players in tomorrow's game vs. the Spurs:

Darius Garland
Jarrett Allen
Sam Merrill
Max Strus
Larry Nance Jr.
Tyrese Proctor

Make it stop 😩 pic.twitter.com/MqtrBvYKNg
— Cavaliers Nation (@WeAreCavsNation) December 4, 2025

Garland will be out due to injury management on his ongoing toe issue. Cavs staff hope that Allen is at the tail-end of his finger injury; he was sidelined for a week on Sunday.

Despite light practices, Merrill is still unable to handle the ball with his right hand comfortably and will continue to be monitored. Strus and Nance Jr. are suffering from foot and calf injuries, respectively, with no timetable yet on Strus’ return and Nance Jr. out for at least a month.

Tyrese Proctor will be absent from Friday’s game due to personal reasons.

A hefty list of players on the shelf, which has been nothing new for Cleveland this season, as they try to battle through what has been a torrid stretch for them over the last fortnight.

The latest loss came against a struggling Portland side on Wednesday – the Cavs’ first loss of the season to a team with a losing record – putting their record against Western Conference teams at 2-2.

But critically, the Cavaliers have plummeted down the Eastern Conference standings from mid-November, sitting second behind the Detroit Pistons to eighth spot less than a month later.

To add to their concerns, the NBA fined them $250,000 for making Garland unavailable for a nationally televised game under the league’s Player Participation Policy.

It was the Cavs’ second violation this season after being fined $100,000 for resting Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley against the Miami Heat on November 12.

But for Mitchell, there’s no panic, just a sense of urgency. Something that lacked against Portland and needs to return against San Antonio.

“The league changes every year, teams get better, trends shift, and nothing is guaranteed,” Mitchell said.

“We’ve got to adjust. It’s still early, but we need to come back with urgency.”