The Cleveland Cavaliers have been a club that's been bit hard by the injury bug this season. Most of Cleveland's players that have been regular rotational contributors have missed time, and offseason signing Ty Jerome has not played since the second game of the campaign with an ankle injury.
Last week, there was some really crushing news as well, as it was reported that Darius Garland would be set to miss about a month with a fractured jaw, and Evan Mobley would be sidelined for six-to-eight weeks due to arthroscopic knee surgery. With what both mean for this Cleveland group, that injury news was disheartening for Cavaliers fans.
It's not as if injuries have been the sole culprit for Cleveland's inconsistencies this season, though. Cleveland has had some big wins, and Cleveland winning three of their last four games at home was a plus, but the Cavaliers unfortunately have not been able to string victories together and really get on a run yet.
As it pertains to those two core guys in Garland and Mobley, those injuries are obviously especially tough ones to overcome, and it's going to take a collective effort for this Cleveland squad to stay in the thick of things. The Cavs are currently 16-13 on the campaign, and seventh in the Eastern Conference.
On the subject of those two cornerstone players, however, it's natural for one to examine which injury absence means more right now, and look at their overall impact.
Between the two injured players, which of the two is more crucial for the Cavaliers, Garland or Mobley?
It's a tough call on that one. First, let's break down what Garland does for this group.