The next game on the Cleveland Cavaliers’ schedule is a bout against the Toronto Raptors on Friday, but not long after taking on Toronto, the team will play the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
The matchup against Atlanta could look different than expected in light of some injury news on the Hawks’ biggest star. Floor general Trae Young is back in Atlanta to get an MRI and not with the team as it continues its current road trip. The Hawks’ road trip will end in Cleveland.
Trae Young went back to Atlanta to undergo MRI. Hawks went through shootaround this morning in Indy as they prepare to play without their star point guard tonight against Pacers. They finish road trip in Cleveland on Sunday.
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) October 31, 2025
It’s of note that Young’s start to the 2025-26 campaign on a Hawks team with real expectations has been less than stellar. He is one of the biggest names in the league in a shooting slump to begin the season, as through five games played, he’s shooting just 37.1 percent from the floor and 19.2 percent from 3-point range.
Still, Young not being on the floor for the Hawks on Sunday would significantly decrease the lethality of their offensive attack. He’s elite at both scoring and distributing the rock, as he’s averaged 25.2 points and 9.8 assists per game across 488 career regular-season contests.
Young is seemingly bound to regain his rhythm sooner rather than later with the premier offensive talent he is, though the Cavaliers won’t have to worry about the possibility of a bounce-back performance from him if he doesn’t play.
But even if Young doesn’t end up playing on Sunday, that doesn’t mean that the Cavaliers can expect to cruise to a win by any stretch. The Hawks have plenty of capable talent around the four-time All-Star. Outside of Young, they have two players who are averaging at least 20 points per game and two others who are averaging at least 15 points per game.
Hopefully, the Cavaliers don’t play down to their competition again like they did against the Boston Celtics just recently, when they got killed on the glass and lost by 20. If they don’t do that, they should be able to earn a hard-fought win regardless of Young’s availability status for Sunday’s game.