Rockets vs. Injury Report Cavs for a primetime showdown
The Cleveland Cavs will face the Houston Rockets without All-Star Darius Garland, who is one of the many players ruled out injury report for the match on Wednesday night. The The Rockets have won eight of their last nine games, including a 117-113 overtime win against the Orlando Magic. At the same time, the Cavs have won seven of their previous nine outings.
The Cavs will host the Rockets without Garland (left toe), Max Struss (left foot surgery), Jaylon Tyson (concussion), and possibly Sam Merrill, who is listed as questionable with a sprained right hand. Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle surgery), Tarry Eason (right oblique deformity) and Fred VanVleet (torn ACL) are all ruled out. Jabari Smith Jr. is listed as questionable on Houston’s injury report.
Eason is out for up to six weeks after suffering the injury in last week’s 140-116 win against the Portland Trail Blazers. Eason is averaging 11.5 points on 49.5% shooting, including 50.9% from deep, and 5.2 rebounds per game for Houston this season. He increased his 3-point attempts from 3.2 to 4.8 per game, which increased his percentage from 34.2% in 2024-25.
Kenny Atkinson injury update on Cavs’ Darius Garland
With the Cavs benching Darius Garland, he is closer to being cleared to play, according to coach Kenny Atkinson. Garland has played in three games since Nov. 5, including his 20-point, nine-assist performance in a 148-115 win over the Wizards.
Atkinson says Garland is on track to be cleared to play full-time.
“He was moving really well, I’ll just put it that way,” Atkinson said. “It didn’t look like anything was slowing him down. It wasn’t 5-on-5, but that was my personal observation.”
“He’s going to shoot again (Saturday), and then we’re going to try to get him going, like 5-on-5, here pretty quickly. It’s kind of a progression, and we’ll gauge where he’s at after that.”
Garland’s next opportunity to play will be when the Cavs host the Pacers in the NBA Finals on Friday.
2025-11-19 17:28:00
