The Cleveland Cavaliers will have a good opportunity to get back in the win column on Sunday as their opponents, the Los Angeles Clippers, will reportedly be without stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
In total, the Clippers will be without at least five players.
Luke Kennard (right calf soreness), Reggie Jackson (sore right Achilles) and Marcus Morris Sr. (rib contusion) are QUESTIONABLE tonight.
Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Robert Covington, John Wall and Moses Brown are all OUT.
It will be a skeleton crew for the Clippers.
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) January 29, 2023
The Clippers remain one of the most dangerous opponents in the league when healthy. They’ve also built some solid momentum recently by winning their past five contests. Leonard and George were available in all five of those games.
However, it seems that a rough scheduling stretch has forced the team to sit its star players out against Cleveland. Five of the team’s last six matches have been played on the road, and the Cavs bout marks the second leg of a six-game road trip for the Clippers. In addition, the Sunday matchup is the second part of a back-to-back for the squad.
Playing against an undermanned Clippers team should give the Cavs some advantage. After all, when Leonard and George have played together since joining the Clippers, L.A. has won 72.3 percent of those contests.
The Cavs should treat Sunday’s game as an important one. They have been struggling lately, losing six of their last 10 matches to fall to 30-21 in the Eastern Conference standings. After a strong start to the season that had them battling for one of the top seeds in the East, the Cavs are now down to the No. 5 spot.
Cleveland has found it difficult to win on the road this season for some reason. It is just 10-16 when visiting other arenas. On the other hand, the squad has the best record at home among all teams in the East.
Fortunately for the Cavs, their next three games, starting with the Clippers meeting, will be played at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
Perhaps playing in front of the home crowd can help Cleveland get through another possible Donovan Mitchell absence. The All-Star Game starter is listed as questionable because of a groin injury. But he was seen at shootaround, which could be a good sign.
Even though he’s questionable with a groin injury, #Cavs star Donovan Mitchell is here getting up a ton of shots. pic.twitter.com/gXVKG8Kbl6
— Evan Dammarell (@AmNotEvan) January 29, 2023
It remains to be seen if the 6-foot-1 star will play Sunday.
