In light of Caris LeVert’s injury update, the Cleveland Cavaliers now have a whopping eight players on their injury report ahead of their matchup against the Detroit Pistons on Friday.
LeVert — who has served as a consistent scoring threat off the Cleveland bench in the 2023-24 regular season — is questionable to play for the Cavaliers due to a right elbow sprain.
But the 29-year-old isn’t the only impactful player on the Cavaliers’ injury report. Star guard Donovan Mitchell is also listed as questionable for Cleveland with left knee soreness.
Emoni Bates, Sharife Cooper, Ty Jerome, Isaiah Mobley, Pete Nance and Tristan Thompson round out the remainder of Cleveland’s injury report.
The Cavaliers have had a hard time returning to their winning ways since the end of the All-Star break, evidenced by the team’s 2-3 record over its last five games.
Cleveland’s two wins after the break have come against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 25 and Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 27.
On the other hand, the Cavaliers have been handed losses by the Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers and Chicago Bulls. Most recently, Cleveland fell to the Bulls on the road by nine points on Feb. 28 in a game that went to double overtime.
Thanks to their recent stretch of unspectacular play, the Cavaliers are in jeopardy of dropping to the No. 3 seed in the Eastern Conference, considering the Milwaukee Bucks are right behind them in the standings with a 39-21 record on the season. The Bucks have been playing better basketball than Cleveland has following the All-Star break, as Milwaukee is riding a four-game winning streak.
Cleveland also isn’t close to the Boston Celtics — who own the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference at 46-12 — in the standings. The Cavaliers are eight games back of the Celtics with 24 games remaining on their regular-season schedule.
After playing the Pistons on the road, the Cavaliers will host the New York Knicks — who have lost their last two games — on Sunday.
