The Cleveland Cavaliers have released their injury report for Saturday night’s home matchup against the Boston Celtics.
#Cavs injury report for tonight’s game against the Celtics:
Lamar Stevens (ankle), Collin Sexton (meniscus tear), Lauri Markkanen (health and safety protocols) and Kevin Love (return to competition reconditioning) are all OUT.
— Kelsey Russo (@kelseyyrusso) November 13, 2021
The absences of Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love come as no surprise, with the latter two players continuing to be held out because of non-injury issues.
In the case of Lamar Stevens, his absence isn’t a key loss, considering he’s come off the bench in all nine of his appearances this season. During that time on the court, he’s averaging just 1.9 points and 1.6 rebounds per game.
Markkanen had been a welcome addition to the Cavaliers’ roster after being acquired during the offseason, with Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff offering high praise for his efforts.
The 33-year-old Love has seen his role with the team diminish considerably this season, with the veteran averaging just 9.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest.
Sexton’s scoring touch has been missed by the improving Cavaliers, who enter the game against the Celtics with a season record of 8-5. Prior to his injury, he had averaged 16.0 points per game, which remains second-best for the team this season.
The Cavaliers have a quick turnaround for Saturday night’s game after they defeated the Detroit Pistons on Friday by a score of 98-78.
The eight wins by the Cavaliers after roughly a month of regular season play holds out the hope that they can finally make progress on their long-standing rebuilding of the franchise.
During the previous three seasons, the Cavaliers never won more than the 22 games they won during a miserable 50-loss season in the 2020-21 campaign.
