The Cleveland Cavaliers played their most complete game of the season, blowing out the Philadelphia 76ers on the road 133-107, but two players couldn't cross the finish line on Wednesday. Darius Garland injured his right foot, while Sam Merrill reaggravated an injury on his right hand, meaning the Cavs will likely be shorthanded in the rematch at Xfinity Mobile Arena on Friday.
“I would probably say doubtful for next game,” Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson said postgame. “I think that's where we are.”
Similar to how he hurt it in the first place, Merrill's hand got caught on a reach defensively in the first half. Though he played out the game until the Cavs went into the locker room, Merrill didn't return to action in the second half.
Garland was rolling along with 20 points and seven assists when he dove to the floor for a loose ball as the Sixers tried to cut into Cleveland's 79-68 lead. Unfortunately, he put all of his weight on his lower body trying to stand up from the scrum. He rolled around in pain and had to exit at the 4:08 mark of the third quarter.
Despondent on the bench while speaking with Cavs trainer Stephen Spiro, Garland went back to the locker room and was ruled out at the beginning of the fourth with a right foot injury. It's not the same left foot that he had great toe surgery on and has been battling through all season, adding more frustration to his 2025-26.
“He's a fighter, dawg,” Donovan Mitchell said postgame. “You see that, and you have to go from concerned to, ‘Okay, time to [play].' You kinda have to go into go-mode because the other team maybe sees that and is like, ‘Alright, here we go.' He was hooping. He was getting downhill, creating, and setting the tone.
Cleveland didn't let up or lose its principles when Garland exited, taking a 93-75 lead into the final frame and forcing Philadelphia to waive the white flag with five minutes left in regulation.
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“Obviously, there's concern, always. That's my brother,” Mitchell said. “But by the same token, it's like, ‘Alright, let's try to continue to be more aggressive and respond back,' which we did great as a group.”
“Honestly, it's next man up,” Jaylon Tyson added. “Yeah, we could sit there and dwell that our All-Star point guard's down, but we've still got a game to finish.”
Atkinson reiterated that, for Friday, it doesn't look good for Garland, and he doesn't know what the longer-term outlook looks like yet.
Mitchell hasn't even asked Garland about the setback yet.
“He's in good spirits,” Mitchell said. “That's always a good sign, right?”
“I hope he's alright,” Tyson added. “We need him. Everybody knows the impact he has on the court. He makes everybody around him better. It sucks to have him out, but we've got to keep going.”