Is Donovan Mitchell playing tonight? Cavaliers vs Pelicans injury report

The Cleveland Cavaliers are back on national television tonight when they travel to New Orleans, hoping to continue their winning streak and break the New Orleans curse. When the Cavs suit up on ESPN Friday night, will they have their best player?

Donovan Mitchell injury update (Updated February 10th)

Note: This will be updated closer to tip-off at 10:00 pm ET if anything changes with Donovan Mitchell’s injury status.

Donovan Mitchell has been dealing with a groin injury for the past month, one aggravated initially against this very same Pelicans team in January. He sat out Wednesday’s blowout win over the Pistons managing the groin injury. Does it keep him out of another game?

We’ll cut right to the chase: Donovan Mitchell is expected to play tonight. He is off of the Cavaliers’ injury report as of midday Friday and there are no indications from the team that his status is in question.

That does not mean that Mitchell is fully healthy; he has been off of the injury report at other times in the past month but clearly been slowed by the injury while on the court. Any collision, jump or landing tonight could result in his groin being aggravated again and Mitchell leaving the game.

One up, one down, however, as Ricky Rubio is expected to miss tonight’s game with injury management for his knee rehab. Darius Garland, who sat out on Wednesday resting his thumb, is likewise off of the injury report.

The Cavaliers have entered a portion of their season where none of their rotation players are dealing with long-term injuries. Players are missing a game here and there, but other than Dylan Windler the entire roster is generally healthy and ready to go. That will allow head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to work with different rotation options with his full arsenal at his fingertips.

For the Pelicans, they continue to be without star Zion Williamson, who is now expected to be out until after the All-Star Break. They will also be without promising rookie Dyson Daniels, out with an ankle injury. New acquisition Josh Richardson likely won’t be available as he joins the team.

The Cavs will be at nearly full strength tonight and ready to notch a key win over a strong foe.