Evan Mobley will miss more time with another calf injury
Evan Mobley suffered a left calf strain due to second time in six weeks and the will miss anywhere from 1-3 weeks actions, the Cleveland Cavaliers published early Tuesday evening.
According to a team statement, Mobley felt tightness in that area after injuring it during Cleveland’s 114-98 win over the Orlando Magic at Rocket Arena.
After an initial evaluation after Monday’s game, the Cavs’ training staff performed an MRI on Mobley on Tuesday afternoon, which revealed a strain. He will receive treatment and be evaluated during that aforementioned period before returning to action.
It is worth noting that Mobley missed five games from Dec. 14-23 with the same injury, returning against the New York Knicks on Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden ahead of schedule. Since that point, the Cavs have gone 11-6 and won four straight games for the first time since early November.
In those 17 contests, Mobley averaged 16.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.4 blocks in 32.4 minutes per night. Lately, his field goal attempts have increased and his presence in the paint has been felt, highlighted by monster performance against the Sacramento Kingswhere Mobley had 29 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and four blocks.
This is terrible timing for Cleveland, which is just starting to find a rhythm even with Darius Garland and Sam Merrill out. It seems that every time something comes together, a new failure forces wine and gold to adapt to changed roles and personnel. Fortunately, it looks like Garland and Meryl, especially the latter, should be back sooner rather than later; however, it cannot be easy for the team to deal with the constant in-and-out nature of their rotations.
Mobley, the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, is the Cavs’ linchpin on that end of the floor. He has 732 blocked shots, fifth most in the NBA, and opponents are shooting 5.1% below expectations. Cleveland will have to figure out a way to guard without the ground it covers, and Jarrett Allen will take over the duties of anchoring the paint on each end of the floor.
2026-01-27 21:58:00
