Darius Garland and Sam Merrill receive injury notices for 76ers rematch

The Cleveland Cavaliers played their most complete game of the season, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers on the road 133-107, but two players couldn’t cross the finish line on Wednesday. Darius Garland injured his right legwhile Sam Merrill re-aggravated his right hand injury, meaning the Cavs will likely be lost for the rematch at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday.

“I’d probably say it’s questionable for the next game,” Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the game. “I think we are where we are.”

Much like how it hurt him in the first place, Merrill’s hand got caught on defense in the first half. Although he played the game until the Cavs entered the locker room, Merrill did not return to action in the second half.

Garland had 20 points and seven assists when he went down for a turnover as the Sixers tried to cut Cleveland’s 79-68 lead. Unfortunately, he put all his weight on his lower body trying to get up from the scrum. He rolled away in pain and had to leave at 4:08 of the third quarter.

Despondent on the bench as he spoke with Cavs coach Stephen Spears, Garland returned to the locker room and was off early in the fourth with an injury to the right foot. It’s not the same left foot he had great toe surgery on and struggled with all season, adding even more frustration to his 2025-26 season.

“He’s a fighter, man,” Donovan Mitchell said after the game. “You see that and you have to go from being concerned to, ‘OK, it’s (play) time.’ You kind of have to go into the mode because the other team might see it and say, ‘Okay, let’s go.’ He is hooping. He went downhill, creating and setting the tone.

Cleveland didn’t budge or lose its ground when Garland came out, took a 93-75 lead into the final frame and forced Philadelphia into a white flag with five minutes left in the game.

“Obviously, there’s always a concern. That’s my brother,” Mitchell said. “But by the same token, it’s like, ‘Okay, let’s try to continue to be more aggressive and respond,’ which we did a great job as a group.”

“Honestly, it’s the next man up,” Jaylon Tyson added. “Yeah, we could sit around thinking that our All-Star point guard is down, but we still have a game to play.”

Atkinson reiterated that Friday doesn’t look good for Garland and he doesn’t yet know what the long-term outlook looks like.

Mitchell hadn’t even asked Garland about the failure yet.

“He’s in a good mood,” Mitchell said. “That’s always a good sign, isn’t it?”

“I hope he’s good,” Tyson added. “We need him. Everyone knows the impact he has on the field. He makes everyone around him better. It sucks to take him out, but we have to keep going.”