The Cleveland Cavaliers will be short-handed against the Indiana Pacers on Thursday night.
That seemed inevitable once the Cavaliers locked up the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday night. While mathematically they are still alive for the No. 1 overall seed, the odds of catching the indomitable Oklahoma City Thunder were small enough that it didn't seem to impact the Cavs' decision-making in any way.
While the Cavaliers have little to play for on Thursday, the Pacers are still alive for the No. 3 seed and need to defend themselves for one more game from the Milwaukee Bucks catching them. They appear to be playing all of their key players heading into the game.
Who will be missing the game for the Cavaliers? And who is suiting up for Cleveland? Let's take a look at what we know and what we can guess.
The Cavaliers Injury Report
Donovan Mitchell was going to be unlikely to play on Thursday even if they had not locked up the top seed. He suffered an ankle injury on Sunday and may not even play again until the playoffs begin over a week from now. He sat out the Cavs' win over the Bulls on Tuesday and he is OUT against Indiana.
He will be joined on the bench by Darius Garland, who is nursing a toe injury and has been listed OUT for the game. Likewise, starting small forward Max Strus will rest his knee and is likewise OUT.
While the other three have injury designations, Evan Mobley is listed OUT due to rest. He has played in 70 games this season, enough to lock in eligibility for year-end award voting. While it's unlikely the Cavaliers rest all four players for each of their three remaining games, they elected to shelve them all against the Pacers.
That means that the only remaining starter is Jarrett Allen, who is the only Cavs player to appear in all 79 games this season and communicated to the organization he would like to reach 82. As has happened in a couple of other recent games, Allen is likely to start but not play the full game.
Projected Cavaliers Starting Lineup
The only other player on the roster with an injury designation is Craig Porter Jr. who missed Tuesday's game with an illness. With Mitchell and Garland out the Cavaliers need Porter, so if he is on the upswing he likely get some run.
The Cavaliers will likely bring him off the bench, however, and start Ty Jerome. Expect Isaac Okoro and De'Andre Hunter to step into the starting lineup as well.
The question becomes who the fifth starter will be. Do the Cavaliers go larger and start Dean Wade next to Hunter, or do they lean smaller and put Sam Merrill or Jaylon Tyson onto the court? We'll guess Merrill gets the nod but any of the three are viable options.
Tonight is also a chance for the newly-signed Chuma Okeke to get some run for the team. He played three minutes in his Cleveland debut earlier this week and is likely going to see some fourth quarter action if the Cavaliers are truly mailing in this game.
Finally, an interesting note: in 105 possessions this season when Jarrett Allen has been on the court without any of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley or Donovan Mitchell, the Cleveland Cavaliers are outscoring opponents by 20.2 points per 100 possessions (per Cleaning the Glass), with an all-time defense smothering opponents. Will that continue to start the game in Indianapolis tonight?