CLEVELAND: Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell is questionable for Monday night’s Game 4 against the Boston Celtics after he strained his left calf in the closing minutes of Cleveland’s loss on Saturday.
Mitchell, who has been dealing with a sore left knee for months, got hurt in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 106-93 win in Game 3.
He received some treatment on the bench during a timeout but clearly was slowed during game action. With the Celtics up by 13 points and closing out the win, Mitchell left the court in the final two minutes and went to the locker room.
Mitchell was not seen Monday at the team’s morning shootaround.
If he can’t play, guard Darius Garland said it will be imperative for the Cavs to remain in attack mode.
“Just be aggressive,” Garland said. “Play as a team, keep the ball moving and trust each other. We have a lot of guys that are super confident in themselves, so we’ll need them to be super confident tonight and make the extra pass and play as a team and pull us together.”
Mitchell scored 33 points Saturday as the Celtics took a 2-1 lead in the series. The 27-year-old, who is in his second postseason with Cleveland, is averaging 31.7 points in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The five-time All-Star has averaged 36.8 points in his last five games. He scored 50 in a Game 6 loss to Orlando in the first round.
Mitchell played in just 55 games this season after being slowed by the left knee injury. He sat out 16 of Cleveland’s final 24 games in the regular season.
The Cavs have been playing without starting center Jarrett Allen, who missed six straight games with a rib injury. Allen hasn’t been able to play since getting hurt in Cleveland’s first-round series against the Magic.
Allen shot a few free throws at the end of the team’s pregame shootaround.
Top-seeded Boston remains without center Kristaps Porzingis, who has missed the last four games with a calf injury.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed - Associated Press)