Cavs: A tough schedule ahead means the losses will pile up

Cavs: Roster is wracked with absences

The Cleveland Cavaliers have missed 46 player games due to injury thus far this season, per Spotrac. That includes 22 games missed by starters thus far. Their frontcourt was so depleted these past two games that the Cavs had to pull 15th-man Ed Davis out of mothballs and start him twice.

Against the Warriors, the Cavs hung tough for 3+ quarters with a skeleton crew. They were missing their starters at shooting guard, small forward, power forward and center, as well as their primary backup wing (Cedi Osman) and backup 4 (Lamar Stevens). 6’4″ Denzel Valentine played most of his minutes as the nominal power forward. At no time was there any real rim protection on the court; the team logged just three blocks the entire game, one of those by Tacko Fall in garbage time.

Collin Sexton is out indefinitely with a meniscus injury, and Evan Mobley will miss up to a month with an elbow injury. Lauri Markkanen is expected back as early as Monday from health and safety protocols, but he will likely require a ramp-up to regain his conditioning. There is no timetable for Jarrett Allen, out with a non-COVID illness, but hopefully he will be back any game now.

Four Cavs starters logged at least 38 minutes against the Warriors, and fatigue on a back-to-back likely contributed to the way they fell apart in the 4th quarter. The players left for head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to play are either worn out or being pressed into roles they are not capable of filling.

There are four days until he Cavs play again, and hopefully that long weekend will refresh the healthy players and give time for some of the injured ones to return. No team can withstand this many injuries, and it stinks that the Cavs have had to face the toughest part of their schedule without the talent needed to win.