Kenny Atkinson cautious with Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allen

Before I tip off against the Toronto Raptors for the start of Group A in the Emirates NBA Cup, Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson provided a wave of updates to Donovan Mitchell, Jarrett Allenand Darius Garland. Both Mitchell and Allen are out for Friday night’s gametheir first missed action of the season.

They will join Sam Merrill on the sidelines as the latest Cavs to hit the inactive list.

Mitchell attended Cleveland’s morning scrimmage and underwent treatment, followed by further evaluation of tightness in his left hamstring.

Atkinson said there was an injury to Allen due to a freak injury at halftime in Boston, where Dean Wade hit a shot that went right into his hand: “Jarrett was saying, ‘I could see if it was like a brick to be mad about it, but the fact that it went right in, what are you going to do?’ It’s just one of those things.”

Coming off the regular season atop the Eastern Conference with multiple 15-game winning streaks, Atkinson knows the team’s injury luck can’t be repeated in back-to-back campaigns.

“Listen, we were the picture of health last year,” Atkinson said. “We say that’s the biggest reason why we’ve won 64 games — not our system, not anything else. That’s been the biggest reason. So I’d rather go through this now than later in the year or come playoff time.”

Darius Garland’s return to the Cavs is on the horizon

Garland, on the other hand, is on the mend and “approaching.” Unlike those two, he went through a full team turnaround.

As ClutchPoints reported on Thursday, Garland was involved in full-on fights as the return approaches. Atkinson, however, warned against playing on Sunday.

“I’ve made that mistake before,” Atkinson said. “And this is just my side, just watching him on the court. I don’t think there’s been any downtime, not even soreness or anything. I think he’s a little frustrated that he’s not making every shot and maybe his basketball is a little lacking, but we’re not interested in that. Just happy, so far, so good as far as everything that he’s asked, but we’ve asked of him,” he said. approaching here.”

Atkinson said putting Garland in that environment was intentional.

“We made sure they went up and down,” Atkinson said. “It wasn’t just drills. They did some drills, but he played. We kept it two-way (in Cleveland) so they could go into the scrimmage with him, to do it as much as possible in that scenario.

“He’s obviously the No. 1 priority in terms of getting him back on the field.”