Shockwaves Through The NBA: cavalier’s Donovan Mitchell Hit With Suspension -A Dark For Cavs Fan

Things have gone from bad to worse this week for the Cleveland Cavaliers as they announced that star guard Donovan Mitchell will miss at least the three next games with a left knee bone bruise. He underwent a Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injection on Monday. Mitchell will be reevaluated over the weekend.

There’s no good time to lose your best player, but this certainly wasn’t an ideal one. The Cavaliers are heading into a difficult portion of their schedule and aren’t playing their best basketball as it is. They have only won four of their last nine and have the 15th overall net rating during that span.

The Cavs have struggled mightily this season without Mitchell. They’ve been elite with him on the court as they’ve outscored opponents by 9.9 points per 100 possessions (93rd percentile) while being dominant on both sides of the ball. This has led to an impressive 32-15 record in games he plays. Without him, they’ve registered a -3.2 net rating (36th percentile) while the offense has been mostly abysmal (113.2 offensive rating) resulting in a 7-6 record in games Mitchell doesn’t play.

On top of that, J.B. Bickerstaff has had issues with integrating Darius Garland and Evan Mobley back into the starting lineup. He hasn’t recaptured the formula that was working when both were out. Losing Mitchell for any length of time takes away valuable opportunities Bickerstaff needs to try and cobble together functional rotatio

ns.