The Cavaliers are in major trouble.
Not only did Cleveland suffer a crushing defeat by the Pacers, leading Indiana to take a 3-1 series lead in their Eastern Conference Semifinal, but Donovan Mitchell also exited the game at halftime due to an injury and did not return.
“He’ll get an MRI tomorrow,” stated Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson. “Honestly, I have no idea [about his status]. Clearly, he couldn’t play in the second half, so we’ll have to wait for the MRI results.”
Mitchell seems to have sustained the injury in the most unexpected manner. It apparently happened while he was warming up during halftime and suddenly went down, clutching his ankle. Either that, or the star was testing his ability to play after an earlier injury and realized he couldn’t continue.
Mitchell had 12 points in 20 minutes as the Cavaliers trailed by an unbelievable 41-point margin at halftime before ultimately falling 129-109.
Injuries have been persistent for Cleveland in this series, as Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter have all already missed time with injuries.
With other guys on the mend, and Mitchell being the star of the team that he is, he scored 40-plus points in consecutive games — 43 points in Game 3 and 48 in Game 2.
Now, potentially having to play Game 5 without that type of production, the Cavaliers could be in some serious trouble.
Cleveland posted an Eastern Conference-best 64-18 record in the regular season but has seemingly met its match with the Pacers.
Indiana stole the first two games in Cleveland before the Cavaliers staved off a potential 3-0 deficit in Game 3 by walloping the Pacers 126-104.
But with the chance to even the series, Cleveland showed no fight Sunday and now faces the improbable task of coming back from a 3-1 deficit.
Game 5 will tip off at 7 p.m. in Cleveland on Tuesday.
