The Cavs are finally getting healthy (knock on wood).
The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t at 100% just yet, but they are as close as they have been all season. The injury report finally doesn’t look like a laundry list.
Cleveland lists Max Strus (foot) and Larry Nance Jr. (calf) as their only standard contract players unavailable for tomorrow’s game against the Houston Rockets. Two-way players Chris Livingston and Luke Travers are also out with G-League assignments.
Everyone else is available. It feels good to type that.
Evan Mobley made his return on Christmas against the New York Knicks. He quickly worked his way back from a calf strain injury that took him only 14 days to recover from. He came off the bench in his first game back and played on a minutes restriction.
Sam Merrill, who previously missed a few weeks with a hand injury, also made his return last week. He’s helped jolt the Cavalier offense back to life with his off-ball movement and three-point shooting. Merrill has played a huge role in almost all of the Cavaliers’ best moments this season.
Of course, Strus can replicate much of Merrill’s contributions once he’s back from his foot injury. Having two three-point specialists who have developed into well-rounded players is a luxury.
Being healthy has been one of the biggest obstacles facing this team. They’ve had unfortunate injuries in each of the last three seasons. This year has been tough from the jump. The Cavs have played more starting lineups than any other team in the league so far. Hopefully, that can start to change.
It’s hard to build momentum when you don’t know who is going to be on the court each night. I don’t want to jinx anything, but having a shorter injury list (for now) is something that should allow the Cavs to continue their upward trajectory.
Category: General Sports
