For the Cavaliers’ match against the Heat on Sunday, Mobley is back in the lineup…….

MIAMI — 

Sunday night saw Evan Mobley return to Cleveland’s starting lineup following a nine-game absence due to an injured left ankle.

For the Cavaliers, who were in Miami to play the shorthanded Heat without Donovan Mitchell (nasal fracture), Max Strus (right knee), and Dean Wade (right knee), it was a sign of at least some progress on the injury front. The players who have combined to make 91 starts this season—Tyler Herro, Kevin Love, Duncan Robinson, and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr.—were not in Miami.

The sole 7-foot player on the team, Mobley, missed games due to an ankle injury, and the Cavaliers finished 3-6 in those games. Of Cleveland’s 71 games this season, he has missed 32. Mobley missed 23 games in December and January due to surgery on his left knee.

Naturally, you have to catch up to NBA speed when you miss out on games for as long as he has, Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated. “Luckily for Evan, that happens pretty quickly for him because of his IQ, his sense of where to be on the floor, and his kind of selflessness when playing the game.”

Mobley led Cleveland, which is ranked third in the Eastern Conference, into Sunday with an average of 15.6 points and 10.2 rebounds this season.

In addition to his nasal fracture, Mitchell has been experiencing knee pain. As a result, he has missed 13 of Cleveland’s previous 18 games. Strus participated in every one of Cleveland’s first sixty games; he has since missed all eleven games.

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They’re improving,” said Bickerstaff. All that matters is how those two individuals respond the next day. With Donovan, obviously, we have to use caution. If you have that kind of face injury, you have to make sure he is protected at all times. All we can do is wait and see how he continues to grow.

Herro was out for Miami for the fifteenth game in a row due to a foot injury that began as a knee problem. Robinson missed his third straight game due to a back issue, and Love missed his thirteenth straight game due to heel soreness. Jaquez’s absence on Sunday due to soreness in his left ankle and knee also presented a new problem.

Erik Spoelstra, the coach of the Heat, stated, “I’m just thinking about what we need to do to prepare, to put ourselves in a position to win. You have to attack whatever your reality is, and not overload yourself with things you can’t control.”