The Cleveland Cavaliers have largely been healthy to start the season - knock on wood.
Jarrett Allen has played in all 22 games. Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley have suited up for 21. As teams all around the league lose stars for an extended period of time, the Cavaliers have built a first-place record in the Eastern Conference in part because they have played extremely well, and in part because their most excellent players have been available to play that well.
That was thrown into chaos on Tuesday night in a classic "trap game" situation. The Cavaliers were coming off of a significant win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. They were playing the Washington Wizards, losers of 14-straight games and desperate for a win. It was the final night of the NBA Cup Group Stage, but the Cavaliers were already eliminated from contention after losing to the Celtics and Atlanta Hawks.
Ty Jerome missed the game due to illness, then both Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell exited the game due to injuries. In a flash, the team looked like it was going from elite backcourt depth to Caris LeVert trying to run the show alone.
Thankfully, Mitchell returned, shaking off a shoulder stinger, and the Cavaliers' defense put the clamps on a Wizards team that was helpless to break through. Cleveland cruised to a 118-87 victory, their fewest points allowed in years. In an interesting twist, it meant that the 2-2 Cavaliers finished with a better point differential than anyone else in their group.
Yet the Cavs did not exit the game unscathed. Darius Garland never returned after being elbowed in the head by Wizards center Jonas Valanciunas. What is the update on all of the ailing guards, and will the Cavaliers be shorthanded going into a showdown with the Denver Nuggets on Thursday?
Darius Garland injury update
Donovan Mitchell returned to the game on Tuesday and seemed to be moving fine during and after the game, so the concern for him moving forward is minimal. There is an outside chance that his shoulder experiences some swelling or bruising and he has to miss a game, but the odds are low. More likely is that he is more susceptible to a reinjury on that same spot.
Of slightly greater concern is Darius Garland. The star point guard having an All-NBA season has a worrisome history of head injuries. He missed weeks last season with a broken jaw that was literally wired shut; he couldn't eat solids for a long time, and he wasn't able to get his rhythm back the entire rest of the year.
Before that it was a neck injury early last season, or the eye injury he suffered on opening night two seasons ago. Cavaliers fans see Garland take a hit to the head and the alarms go off. When he didn't return to the game, the level of concern grew.
Thankfully, it seems that the worst-case scenarios can be discarded. Head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the game that he didn't expect Garland to miss any games. Garland himself was in the locker postgame, and while talk of a "headache" went around nothing more serious was described.
As Cleveland.com's Chris Fedor pointed out, if the team was concerned about a possible concussion, it was unlikely that they would allow Garland to be operating in the noise and bright lights of the locker room. That suggests that he was checked out and cleared.
Does that mean he is out of the woods? Certainly not. All injuries are somewhat unpredictable, and certainly injuries to the head. Garland could develop concussion symptoms in the hours or days ahead, or he could experience stiffness or pain elsewhere in his head or neck. Missing time is still a very real possibility.
Perhaps the more worrisome development is Ty Jerome's sickness. If he was too sick to suit up, it's likely that what he has is both intense and contagious. If a virus spreads around the team their depth will be challenged, and it would not be surprising for them to lose a game or two because they are missing key players due to illness.
For now it appears a crisis was averted, and both Mitchell and Garland seem to have escaped the worst of it. That means the Cavaliers are clear to continue winning games and establishing themselves as a power in the Eastern Conference.