Cavs’ Evan Mobley to miss more time with second calf injury in 6 weeks

Evan Mobley has suffered a left calf strain for the second time in six weeks and will miss anywhere from 1-3 weeks of action, the Cleveland Cavaliers announced early Tuesday evening.

According to the team’s press release, Mobley felt tightness in the area after injuring it during Cleveland’s 114-98 win over the Orlando Magic at Rocket Arena.

After an initial postgame evaluation on Monday, the Cavs’ training staff did an MRI on Mobley this afternoon, which revealed a strain. He’ll receive treatment and be evaluated during that aforementioned window before returning to play.

It’s worth noting that Mobley missed five games from December 14-23 with the same injury, making his comeback against the New York Knicks on Christmas Day at Madison Square Garden ahead of schedule. From that point, the Cavs have gone 11-6 and have won four games in a row for the first time since early November.

In those 17 contests, Mobley averaged 16.2 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.4 blocks in 32.4 minutes a night. As of late, his field-goal attempts have increased, and his paint presence has been felt, highlighted by a monster performance against the Sacramento Kings, where Mobley had 29 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists, and four blocks.

This is awful timing for Cleveland, which had just begun to find a rhythm even with Darius Garland and Sam Merrill out of action. It appears that every time something comes together, another setback forces the wine and gold to adjust to changed roles and personnel. Fortunately, it seems that Garland and Merrill, especially the latter, should be back sooner rather than later; however, it can’t be easy for the team to deal with the constant in-and-out nature of its rotations.

Mobley, the reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year, is the Cavs’ linchpin on that end of the floor. He has 732 defended field goal attempts, the fifth-most in the NBA, and opponents are shooting 5.1% below expectations. Cleveland will have to figure out a way to guard without the ground he covers, and Jarrett Allen will assume the duties of anchoring the paint on each end of the floor.

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