MIAMI — There was no walking boot. Only a minor limp.
Cavs phenom Evan Mobley left the visitor’s locker room inside Kaseya Center shortly before 10 p.m. Sunday with little concern about his sprained left ankle suffered in the first half of [Cleveland’s 122-113 loss to the Miami Heat](https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2024/12/cavs-evan-mobley-injured-in-122-113-loss-to-miami-heat.html).
“I’m good,” Mobley told cleveland.com during a brief conversation at his locker while sipping a recovery shake. “This break should help.”
Around the two-minute mark of the first quarter, Mobley, coming off a 41-point game against Charlotte Saturday afternoon, dropped in a short-range hook shot. As he jumped quickly for a second time to get in position for a possible offensive rebound, the 7-footer landed awkwardly on Heat forward Kevin Love’s foot. Mobley screamed in pain, reached down toward his lower left leg and hobbled back on defense. Spending the next few possessions limping around the court and trying to shake off the pain, Mobley was able to stay in the game and logged 12 minutes during the first half.
But he was clearly hampered by the injury and never felt right after. At halftime, [the team made a collaborative decision to keep him out for the rest of the night](https://www.cleveland.com/cavs/2024/12/cavs-lose-all-star-hopeful-to-injury-in-first-half-vs-miami-heat.html).
“We had some discussion,” Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I saw him limping after it happened and then limping successive plays. That’s a tough kid. Unfortunate for us. But don’t think it’s a bad one.”
Mobley remained in the locker room for the second half, receiving treatment for the injury. He finished with four points in 12 minutes, just the third time failing to score double digits this season.
Without him, Atkinson was forced to shuffle his lineup and rotation. Dean Wade, the starting small forward for a second straight game because of Isaac Okoro’s minor knee injury, moved back to the bench at the outset of the second half, with Atkinson believing Wade would be better utilized as the small-back backup center. That change led to more of an opportunity for Caris LeVert, who technically took Wade’s place, and Georges Niang — the Mobley replacement.
Cleveland’s defense suffered, giving up 63 points while allowing Miami to shoot 50% from the field and 63.2% from 3-point range in the second half.
“He is one of the top 5 defensive players in the league,” Atkinson said of Mobley. “You lose a guy like that and we had to play some small ball with Dean at the 5. He was fine, but they just took it to us. We had some spurts because of our talent. But not good enough.”
After the game, Mobley spoke with Love, the apologetic former Cavalier who came into the visitor’s locker room and lamented the role his size 18 shoe played in that untimely injury. No worries. Mobley seems fine. He’s also historically a quick healer. Plus, it’s not the worst timing either.
Given that the Cavs did not qualify for the knockout round of the NBA Cup, which begins this coming week, they won’t play again until Friday at home against the Washington Wizards. That gives Mobley four days of recovery, without having to get on a plane until Wednesday evening, when the team is scheduled to return home to Cleveland.
During this mini break, the Cavs are staying in Miami — a chance for in-season team bonding and a mental reset. Monday is an off day. Tuesday and Wednesday are scheduled practices. Even though the organization is traditionally cautious when it comes to any injury — and this is now the sixth different ankle injury —it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Mobley back in the lineup this weekend or early next week.