Cavs' Donovan Mitchell questionable as Cleveland prepares to host New York Knicks in playoff rematch
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell is questionable with hamstring soreness for Tuesday night's game against the New York Knicks — Cleveland's first shot at revenge against the team that knocked it out of last year's playoffs.
Mitchell sat out Saturday's loss to Indiana, one night after scoring 43 in the Cavs' home-opening loss to Oklahoma City. He took part in the Cavs' practice on Monday.
While the Cavs hope to have Mitchell back, they will again be without All-Star point guard Darius Garland (strained left hamstring) and starting center Jarrett Allen (left ankle bone bruise). Backup guard Ty Jerome is also out with a sprained right ankle.
This will be the third game missed by Garland, who hasn't played since the opener at Brooklyn.
Allen hasn't played this season. He missed most of training camp and the entire exhibition schedule with the injury. The 6-foot-Allen recently resumed on-court work, but coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he's not ready for games.
“You know what Jarrett is going to do,” Bickerstaff said. “What we have to do is figure out a way to recreate some of the random things that are going to happen. So we'll do that before we put him on the floor.”
The Cavs returned to the postseason for the first time since 2018 last season, but were eliminated in five games by the Knicks. Cleveland and New York will play again Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden.
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