Cavaliers beat Magic, lose Evan Mobley to sprained ankle

Darius Garland had 25 factors and 12 assists, main the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 107-101 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night time after dropping huge man Evan Mobley resulting from a sprained left ankle.

Mobley, the No. 3 general choose, landed on the foot of Franz Wagner whereas defending underneath the basket within the second quarter. He limped to the locker room after briefly laying on the court docket and didn’t return.

The Cavaliers didn’t present an replace, however Kevin Love stated Mobley rolled his ankle “fairly good.” Mobley is averaging 14.9 factors and eight.3 rebounds, inserting him squarely within the Rookie of the Yr race with Toronto’s Scottie Barnes and Detroit’s Cade Cunningham.

“It gutted us to lose Evan, whether or not it’s for a sport, two video games, three video games or no matter it could be,” Love stated. “We have to preserve preventing and hope that he recovers shortly and will be on the market with us as a result of he means a lot to the crew.”

Lauri Markkanen scored 20 factors, Love had 19 factors and 7 rebounds, and Isaac Okoro added 11 factors for the Cavaliers, who snapped a three-game dropping streak and remained seventh within the Japanese Convention with a 42-33 document.

Cleveland clinched its first profitable season in 4 years. That is the primary time the Cavaliers will end above .500 with out LeBron James on their roster since 1997-1998.

“Mentally, I believe it struck us a little bit bit, seeing our rookie of the 12 months go down like that,” Garland stated. “We simply needed to pull it again collectively and that’s what we did. We bought again to taking part in our model of basketball and got here up with a win.”

Magic energy ahead Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 factors, 12 rebounds and 6 assists, Ignas Brazdeikis scored 13 factors and Wagner had 10 factors and 6 assists. Orlando has the worst document within the East at 20-56.

“That second unit with (Brazdeikis) gave us a big raise and actually executed down the stretch,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley stated. “Our starters have been proper there cheering for these guys as a result of we’ve got such a dynamic group, they’re all so supportive.”

Brazdeikis’ layup gave Orlando a 92-90 lead halfway by means of the fourth, however Markkanen and Garland mixed to attain the following 12 factors, placing Cleveland in entrance for good. It was capped by an alley-oop from Garland to Markkanen.

“Darius is a more in-depth and he has the power to make all of the photographs,” Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated. “You have a look at groups that win — and most of those video games come right down to the fourth quarter — they usually have a more in-depth. Darius is at that degree and it’s an elite degree.”

All-Star middle Jarrett Allen (left center finger fracture) missed his eleventh straight sport for Cleveland. Level guard Rajon Rondo (proper ankle sprain) has not performed since March 12, and taking pictures guard Collin Sexton (left knee surgical procedure) is out for the season.

“We’ll play the blokes who’re right here,” Bickerstaff stated. “We’ll roll with the blokes we bought.”

COMING UP EMPTY

The Cavaliers misplaced their two most necessary video games of the season to this point, 117-104 at Toronto and 98-94 to Chicago in a three-day span. Because of this, Cleveland slipped to seventh within the East and now trails each groups by one sport. “It was the magnitude of the second and the (restricted) expertise degree of our guys,” Bickerstaff stated. “It hurts. It’s painful. However you need to undergo it and you need to take some lumps.” 4 of the Cavaliers’ remaining seven video games are on the street.

TIP-INS

Magic: Mosley watched the Oscars with Bickerstaff at his home. … Rookie Wagner, Detroit’s Saddiq Bey and Phoenix’s Mikal Bridges are the one NBA gamers to start out each sport this season. … Rookie G Jalen Suggs (proper ankle bruise), the No. 5 general choose, final performed on March 13 towards Philadelphia. … C Bol Bol (proper foot surgical procedure) and C Jonathan Isaac (left knee rehabilitation) are out for the season.

Cavaliers: Mobley wants one level to develop into the eighth rookie in franchise historical past with 1,000. … F Dean Wade (proper meniscus tear) will miss the remainder of the season after present process knee surgical procedure. Wade, who made 28 begins, averaged 5.3 factors in 51 video games. … C Moses Brown’s second 10-day contract runs by means of March 30. … Cleveland took a 59-58 lead in its sequence with Orlando, which entered the NBA in 1989.

UP NEXT

Magic: Go to the Washington Wizards on Wednesday night time.

Cavaliers: Host the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night time.