By Shams Charania, Joe Vardon and Jason Lloyd
Cleveland Cavaliers starting forward Evan Mobley is likely headed for another extended absence due to injury, this time because of a sprained left ankle suffered in an improbable win Tuesday over the Boston Celtics, multiple league sources told The Athletic.
Mobley has to wait for the significant swelling to subside for an official timeline, but one source said “it will be some time” and another said he “will be out awhile.”
Mobley suffered the injury on a successful dunk with 5:29 left in the third quarter of the Cavs’ 105-104 win over the Celtics, in which they overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter. Mobley’s teammate, Sam Merrill, committed a foul after Mobley turned his ankle so the Cavs could get him out of the game, and he was escorted back to the locker room. Mobley left Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on crutches, and was ruled out for the team’s game Wednesday night in Atlanta.
Mobley, an All-NBA defender who is averaging 15.6 points and 10.2 rebounds this season, missed six weeks from mid-December until late January due to minor knee surgery. His replacement in Tuesday’s win, Dean Wade, scored 20 of his 23 points during Cleveland’s furious fourth-quarter comeback.
The Cavs are also playing without starters Donovan Mitchell (left knee) and Max Strus (right knee) this week, who along with Mobley make up three-fifths of their usual starting lineup.
Cleveland enters tonight’s game a half-game behind Milwaukee for second place in the East.
Required reading
(Photo: Ken Blaze / USA Today)
