Having clinched the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers officially have nothing to play for in the final two games of the regular season. Last night, they rested most of their top players — all three All-Stars sat — as their reserves narrowly lost to the Indiana Pacers, their projected second-round opponent. Tonight, Darius Garland ($7,700; toe) and Evan Mobley ($8,900; rest) will return, while Donovan Mitchell ($9,400; ankle) remains out.
Mitchell’s absence is good news for fans of the New York Knicks, who Cleveland will travel to face tonight, and relatively neutral for Cavaliers fans. The Knicks still need one win or one Pacers loss to officially clinch the third seed in the East, and Cleveland — without Mitchell, De’Andre Hunter ($4,500; rest), Sam Merrill ($4,100; rest), and Ty Jerome ($5,000; injury management) — is a much more beatable opponent than it would be with all those players healthy. Mitchell’s injury isn’t a cause for concern; he was able to return to Sunday’s loss against the Sacramento Kings after tweaking his ankle and should be fully healthy by the time the Cavaliers’ postseason series starts.
New York isn’t without injury questions of its own: point guard Jalen Brunson ($8,800) is questionable as the Knicks manage his ankle injury, and OG Anunoby ($6,900; thumb), Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,600; knee), and Josh Hart ($7,300; knee) are questionable as well. But if all four of those players play, New York looks likely to record its first win against Cleveland this season. The Knicks are currently 3.5-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook for tonight’s contest.
With Mitchell and Jerome both out, Garland and Mobley should both see upticks in their usage rate, but behind them, reserve guards Craig Porter Jr. ($3,500) and Jaylon Tyson ($3,000) could also see bigger roles than usual. Porter played 28 minutes as Jerome’s backup last night and dropped 16 points, adding three rebounds and three assists (22.75 FPTS).
