Cavs’ Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, De’Andre Hunter out for Game 2

CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers were without three key players — All-Star Darius Garland (toe), Evan Mobley (ankle) and De’Andre Hunter (thumb) — for Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.

Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said none of the three players participated in shootaround Tuesday morning and they did not take the court for their pregame shooting routine, leaving the team short-handed entering a critical game trailing 1-0 in the series.

Ty Jerome and Dean Wade entered Cleveland’s starting lineup in place of forwards Mobley and Hunter, who were both injured during the fourth quarter of Game 1 on a pair of plays Atkinson felt the contact was excessive.

The Cavs submitted three plays to the NBA for review, none of which were called for fouls.

One play was a jump shot where Mobley landed on Pacers center Myles Turner’s foot and injured his ankle with 8:10 remaining. Another was a block from Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin that resulted in Hunter dislocating his thumb — a play Atkinson challenged unsuccessfully during the game and noted Tuesday was “inconceivable” that it was not called a foul.

During another play in the fourth quarter, Cavs center Jarrett Allen took a hard fall after a dunk attempt.

Atkinson made clear that he was not calling the Pacers out for playing dirty, but he reiterated he felt each play crossed the line of even the increased physicality of playoff basketball.

“What I want to mark sure is that we have our best players playing in the playoffs,” Atkinson said during his pregame media session. “It bothers me that we have a defensive player of the year, All-Star, and a great player like De’Andre Hunter that are [out] for this game because in my opinion, all three of those plays were excessive.”

Garland has not played since Game 2 of the first round against Miami and is missing fourth consecutive playoff game with a sprained left toe. He was running on a treadmill Tuesday near the team’s practice court, but Atkinson said the team will be cautious with playing Garland at less than 100%. The toe gives him issues cutting and running, especially problematic when trying to keep up with a fast-paced Pacers offense.

Source: espn.com