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The next games for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers, as well as the next two games for the Brooklyn Nets, have been postponed by the NBA because of players and staff members entering the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols.
The following games are impacted:
Sunday, Dec. 19:
Denver at Brooklyn
Cleveland at Atlanta
New Orleans at Philadelphia
Monday, Dec. 20:
Orlando at Toronto
Tuesday, Dec. 21:
Washington at Brooklyn
Cavaliers forward/center Evan Mobley has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols today and will be OUT for tonight’s game at Milwaukee.
Cleveland Charge center Tacko Fall has been named NBA G League Player of the Week for games played 11/22 through 11/28. Cleveland won both of their contests last week where Tacko averaged 22.0 points on .810 shooting from the field with 14.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and 0.5 steals in 28.0 minutes per game.
In the first win in Sioux Falls on Saturday, Fall hit all 10 of his FG attempts in scoring 22 points while grabbing 11 rebounds with a steal and a block in the 115-111 victory. To help secure the two-game sweep over the Skyforce, Tacko scored another 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting with a season-high 17 boards and swatting three blocks in Sunday’s 113-110 double overtime victory.
Cavaliers guard Collin Sexton sustained a season-ending left knee injury on Sunday, Nov. 7th at New York, later confirmed on Nov. 8 after an MRI administered at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health.
Sexton underwent surgery on November 17th to repair a meniscus tear after additional evaluation over the past week determined that surgery was the best course of action to treat the affected area. The procedure was performed by Dr. Kyle Hammond at Emory University Sports Medicine Center in Atlanta.
Per Cleveland.com, “after failing to agree on a contract extension with the Cavaliers prior to the season opener, Sexton was hoping a fourth straight productive year would lead to lucrative offers this summer — an offseason where he’s set to become a restricted free agent. Instead, his season is over after just 11 games. The decision to undergo surgery now rather than rush a recovery was not only considered the best long-term option but it allows him to get back to full strength ahead of the 2022-23 season.”
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio has received the Offseason NBA Cares Community Assist Award. This in recognition of his continued efforts to improve the lives of children and families, particularly those impacted by cancer, prior to the 2021-22 NBA season.
This is the fifth year the NBA and Kaiser Permanente have presented the offseason award to a player for his impactful work from the end of the regular season to the start of the following season.
“I’m honored to receive the NBA Cares Offseason Community Assist award,” said Rubio. “There are a lot of NBA players making a difference in their communities and I’m fortunate to be chosen. Since I started playing basketball, I have always thought about how to leverage sports and community. I tossed around the idea of starting a foundation until the decision to act became more personal and clear: my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer in the summer of 2012 and in one of my last conversations with her, I promised that I would do everything in my power to help others.”
In April, Rubio launched “I Am Ready,” a virtual program to ease these experiences for pediatric cancer patients undergoing radiation treatments. The program, which will be delivered to 1,000 youth patients in the United States during the 2021-22 NBA season, features Rubio guiding the children on what to expect as well as through a workout to reduce their fear and anxiety for treatment.
In September, in partnership with Funidació “laCaixa”, Rubio announced the construction of a new therapeutic rehabilitation area at Vall d’Hebron Hospital in Barcelona to increase the number of children and adolescents the hospital can serve by nearly 40 percent.
During the same month, the Ricky Rubio Foundation also funded a week-long stay for a family navigating cancer at Dreams Village, which aims to have a positive impact on patient recovery.
Throughout the offseason, Rubio provided additional support for local organizations and the next generation of players. In May, he continued his #OneMonthOneCause campaign, a program that showcases and provides contributions to local non-profits, by selecting Minneapolis-based A Breath Of Hope.
In Spain, Rubio also launched the Community Team of Masnou, which uses basketball to teach life lessons to young people, and hosted the eighth year of Camp Ricky Rubio in El Collel. Through programs and resources, Rubio’s contributions totaled more than $200,000.
Cleveland Cavaliers rookie forward Evan Mobley left Monday night’s game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse against Boston in the third quarter with a right elbow injury and did not return to action.
Initial examination postgame and an MRI administered today at Cleveland Clinic Sports Health confirmed a right elbow sprain.
Mobley will now undergo a period of treatment and rehabilitation and his return to play will be approximately 2-4 weeks.
The Cavs are 9-6 so far this season, which is the 5th best record in the Eastern conference.
Their leading scorers so far in 2021-22 are Darius Garland at 16.8 points per game, Collin Sexton at 16.0 ppg, and Ricky Rubio, Mobley and Jarrett Allen who are all scoring between 14-15 ppg.
Mobley is averaging 14.6 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.5 apg and 1.6 bpg. He’s an early leader along all rookies in the league.
The NBA announced today that Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week and LA Clippers forward Paul George Western Conference Player of the Week for Week 3 (games played Monday, November 1, through Sunday, November 7).
This marks Allen’s first career player of the week award and the 63rd time a Cavalier has ever won the weekly honor.
Allen led the Cavs to a perfect 4-0 record this past week, including three road wins against teams with winning records (Charlotte, Toronto, New York). The fifth-year center posted a double-double in all four games while averaging 20.5 points on .633 shooting from the field, an NBA-best 16.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 blocks in 37.0 minutes per contest. He was the only player in the NBA to average at least 20.0 points and 15.0 rebounds last week and had the highest field goal percentage among any NBA player who averaged 20 points or more. Among Eastern Conference leaders, Allen ranked first in total rebounds per game (16.3), first in offensive rebounds per game (5.0), first in defensive rebounds per game (11.3), tied for first in double-doubles (4), fourth in field goal percentage (.633), tied for 13th in blocks per game (1.25), 15th in points per game (20.5), and tied for 20th in steals per game (1.50). Additionally, he recorded at least 15 points and 15 rebounds in all four outings, the most in the NBA this past week, and became the first Cavalier to put up those numbers in four straight games since Anderson Varejao in 2012 (five straight games from 11/26/12-12/3/12).
Allen opened the week by recording 24 points (9-13 FG), 16 rebounds, one steal and three blocks in 35 minutes of Cleveland’s 113-110 win at Charlotte on Nov. 1. He scored 15 points in the first quarter, his most in any period of his NBA career. In Cleveland’s 107-104 home victory against Portland on Nov. 3, Allen tallied a team-high 24 points (9-15 FG), a season-high 17 rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal in 40 minutes. During the Cavs’ 102-101 come-from-behind win at Toronto on Nov. 5, Allen helped the Cavs erase a 15-point deficit and finished the night with 16 points (5-6 FG, 1-1 3FG, 5-6 FT), 15 rebounds, two steals and one block in 39 minutes. He also hit his first three-pointer of the season, a banker as the shot clock expired, that tied the game at 94 with 4:42 left in regulation. Allen closed out the week with 18 points (8-15 FG), a season-high tying 17 rebounds, a season-high tying four assists and two steals in 34 minutes in the team’s 126-109 win at New York on Nov. 7.
Through his 11 appearances this season (all starts), Allen has helped the Cavaliers reach a 7-4 record (sixth-best in East) and is producing career highs in points (14.9), rebounds (11.6, seventh in NBA), steals (1.27), minutes (32.5) and field goal percentage (.687, third in NBA). The Wine & Gold are 7-2 over its last nine games.
Allen becomes the first Cavalier to win the award since LeBron James (March 19-25, 2018). Los Angeles Clippers forward Paul George won Player of the Week accolades for the Western Conference.
This is George’s 10th-career Player of the Week Award and his second time winning the award with the Clippers. During the week, George helped lead the team to a 4-0 record while averaging 26.3 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists, and 1.8 steals.
The Palmdale, Calif., native eclipsed 14,500 career points during Sunday’s win against the Charlotte Hornets. George is now one of seven active players with at least 14,500 points, 4,500 rebounds, and 2,500 assists. This week, George was the only player in the NBA to average at least 26.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists.
In his 12th NBA season, the six-time All-NBA player is averaging 27.0 points, the most since his time as a Clipper, and has tied his career high in rebounds (8.2) and assists (5.2). The Clippers are currently on a four-game winning streak and rank seventh in the Western Conference with a 5-4 record.
Cavaliers forward Lauri Markkanen is entering the NBA’s health and safety protocols today and will miss tonight’s game against Portland at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
In eight games played, and eight starts, Markkanen is averaging 12.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game.
The Cavs are a solid 4-4 so far this season.
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love will enter the NBA’s health and safety protocols today and will miss tonight’s road game against the Charlotte Hornets.
The Cavs are a respectable 3-4 to start the season. Their leading scorers so far are Collin Sexton at 17.3 points per game, Ricky Rubio at 14.0 ppg, Evan Mobley and Darius Garland each at 13.4 ppg, and Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen each at 11.7 ppg.
Love has come off the bench for all seven games so far and in 20.7 minutes per game is averaging 9.9 ppg and 7.3 rebounds per game.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have exercised the fourth-year (2022-23) contract options on Darius Garland and Dylan Windler and the third-year (2022-23) option on Isaac Okoro.
Garland (6-1, 186) was the No. 5 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft by Cleveland and owns career averages of 14.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 0.95 steals in 31.9 minutes over 117 career games (113 starts) with the team. Last season, the Vanderbilt product received three votes for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award after recording career highs in points (17.4), rebounds (2.4), assists (6.1, 18th in NBA), steals (1.22), minutes (33.1), field goal percentage (.451) and three-point percentage (.395). Additionally, Garland was one of only four players in the entire NBA to post at least 17.0 points, 6.0 assists, a .390 clip from three and a .840 mark from the foul line in 2020-21, joining Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving and Kyle Lowry. He became the quickest in franchise history to reach 200 career three-pointers (107 games), achieving that mark with his fourth trey in a win over Chicago on April 21. So far this season, Garland is handing out a career-best 9.0 assists per game, which ranks third in the NBA, while also averaging 14.0 points and 2.3 rebounds in 30.8 minutes per contest.
Windler (6-6, 199) was selected as the 26th overall pick by the Cavaliers during the 2019 NBA Draft after a four-year career at Belmont. He has appeared in 34 career games with the Cavaliers, holding averages of 4.7 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15.2 minutes. Last season, he averaged 5.2 points and 3.5 rebounds in 16.5 minutes over 31 games after missing his entire rookie campaign in 2019-20 due to a left lower leg stress reaction. From Dec. 23 to Feb. 24, Windler led the Cavs in three-point percentage at .418 (23-55) and had a stretch of nine consecutive three-pointers made without a miss (Feb. 23-24), becoming the first Cavs rookie to accomplish that feat in 20 years and was the longest by any Cavs player since Kyrie Irving in 2015.
Okoro (6-5, 225), the No. 5 pick by the Cavaliers out of Auburn in the 2020 NBA Draft, is averaging 9.5 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.90 steals in 32.1 minutes over 71 career games with the team. An NBA All-Rookie Second Team selection last season, Okoro (646 points, 62 three-pointers, 62 steals, 24 blocks) became just the third rookie in franchise history to record at least 500 points, 50 threes, 50 steals and 20 blocks in a single season, joining LeBron James (2003-04) and Kyrie Irving (2011-12). The 20-year-old led all NBA rookies in minutes per game in 2020-21 while also ranking in the Top 10 among rookies in steals per game (sixth), points per game (eighth) and assists per game (10th). His 32.4 minutes averaged was the highest by a Cavs rookie since LeBron James in 2003-04 (39.5) and the most by any NBA rookie since 2017-18 (Ben Simmons 33.7 and Donovan Mitchell 33.4).