Donovan Mitchell seems to be somewhat snakebitten this season. The 27-year-old All-Star Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard, who’s still recuperating from a left knee bone bruise, has just incurred yet another injury. Per a Cavaliers press statement, Mitchell suffered a nasal fracture in the team’s 117-103 loss to the Houston Rockets on Saturday. The injury caused him to sit out against the Indiana Pacers on Monday, a 108-103 Cleveland victory.
As Cleveland’s PR team notes, Mitchell underwent a realignment procedure at the Cleveland Clinic earlier today for the damaged nose. Cleveland will reassess him in a week. That doesn’t necessarily mean he will be back in action in a week, just that the Cavaliers will be able to provide a progress report at that juncture.
Mitchell initially had sat out seven consecutive contests with the aforementioned bone bruise. A platelet-rich plasma injection helped him recuperate enough to come back for a few contests last week, before it became clear that he needed additional recovery time. This nose issue will at least give him that.
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The 6’3″ Louisville product had seemed to be well on his way to notching a second consecutive All-NBA appearance this season before he was waylaid by these accruing ailments. He’s already missed 19 games for the Cavaliers, and with this weeklong absence, he will officially be unable to hit the 62-game minimum mark for consideration. It’s typically 65 games per a new league rule, but there are injury exceptions.
Across his 49 healthy contests for the 43-25 Cavaliers (the East’s third seed at present), Mitchell is averaging a team-most 27.4 points on a .468/.373/.862 slash line, along with 6.1 assists, 5.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 0.5 blocks a night. The Cavaliers are still also without another key starter in power forward Evan Mobley. The 22-year-old has been shelved for two weeks with a left ankle sprain.
The Cavaliers have a busy slate over their next week. They really could have used Mitchell (and Mobley). The team will square off against playoff teams thrice in that span. Those contests include two matchups against the scrappy 37-31 Miami Heat, and one battle against the 47-21 Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday. Cleveland will get some relief on Monday, when it faces the lowly Charlotte Hornets (17-51). But even that game will be no gimme, as it will mark the second contest of a back-to-back set of bouts.
Zooming out, the timing of this injury must be frustrating for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the rest of his bench. Cleveland has managed to hold on over their last 10 contests despite these big injuries, with a decent 5-5 record. But the club has just 14 games left as the regular season winds down. With the playoffs looming, the Cavaliers are hoping to advance beyond their disappointing finish last year, a five-game first round loss. But they’ll need everyone healthy if they’re hoping to make some noise in the Eastern Conference.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.