CLEVELAND — Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell will miss Game 4 against the Celtics due to a left calf strain he suffered late in Saturday’s Game 3, according to ESPN.
Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff described the injury as something that had been building for Mitchell, who required treatment after Game 3 and did not participate in shoot-around Monday.
“Obviously he wants to play. He’ll do everything in his power to play. But, like we do with all our guys, if they can’t put themselves in a position to protect themselves, we won’t let them play,” Bickerstaff said pregame.
Mitchell had been averaging nearly 30 points per game in the playoffs. The five-time All-Star led the Cavaliers’ blowout upset win in Game 2 last week, pouring in 29 points around eight assists and seven rebounds. Mitchell followed that up with a 33-point outburst in Game 3, when the Celtics held off a late Cleveland charge to take a 2-1 series lead.
Through three games, the Cavs out-scored Boston with Mitchell on the floor, but were doubled up — 62 to 31 — during the minutes Mitchell sat. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla admitted his team would have some adjustments to make if he missed the game, but stressed the importance of effort over tactics in the playoffs.
“It seems like (it’s) the team that’s playing the hardest, the most desperate team,” Mazzulla said, “that wins.”
The Cavaliers also played without center Jarrett Allen, who has yet to make an appearance in this series due to bruised ribs he suffered in the Cavs’ first-round series win over Orlando.
