The Cleveland Cavaliers path to advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals just got more difficult on Monday.
Less than 24 hours after the Indiana Pacers blitzed that Cavs in a 121-112 win to take a 1-0 lead in the two foes conference semifinal matchup, head coach Kenny Atkinson shared some ominous injury news regarding several key Cavaliers players.
According to Atkinson, versatile wing De’Andre Hunter suffered a dislocated thumb on his shooting hand after taking a hard spill in the fourth quarter when he went up for a transition dunk.
The play was highly scrutinized at the moment, as the officials ruled that Benedict Mathurin blocked Hunter’s shot at the rim, ignoring the fact that his body also made contact with Hunter, sending him barreling to the floor and ultimately clutching at his right hand.
While Atkinson made sure to express that he didn’t think the Pacers were deliberately playing dirty in Game 1, he did take acceptation with the way the game was officiated, especially in regards to the play that has now has Hunter entering Game 2 listed as questionable.
“I will say, there were two plays in that game, how should I say it,” began Atkinson. “Upmost respect for Indiana and Rick [Carlisle] and how they coach and I don’t think they were dirty plays, but I think it passed the line of physicality. That line we’ve kind of been been talking about, where it became excessive.
“No. 1 was the non-call on De’Andre’s layup. Everyone in the world just look at that play and they reviewed it, and I’m just in shock. I guess I gotta know the rules better. I felt like he got absolutely obliterated and dislocated his thumb.”
Star forward Evan Mobley will also enter Tuesday as questionable, after coming up lame on a late fourth-quarter hook shot where he landed on Pacers’ big man Myles Turner’s foot and rolled his ankle. Mobley was seen limping around the locker room after the game.
Cavs HC Kenny Atkinson: There were 2 plays in that game that crossed the line of physicality.
No. 1 was the non-call on De’Andre … he dislocated his thumb and will be questionable.
Evan Mobley will also be questionable with an ankle injury. Felt he wasn’t given room to land.
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Atkinson was equally as critical of the officiating on that play, which happened just seconds before Hunter’s spill. From his perspective, Turner violated the NBA’s landing rule foul, which prohibits defenders from stepping into a shooters landing zone on shot attempts.
“Evan, around the same time … Turner contests his two-point shot, comes under, clearly under him and shooters need space to land,” Atkinson explained. “And is pushed off balance in our opinion and tweaks his ankle pretty bad.”
Neither foul was called, even after the hard block on Hunter was reviewed. It wouldn’t have changed much for the Cavaliers, who now enter Tuesday with uncertainty over whether or not two key players will be available.
Atkinson did try to soften his criticism of the officiating, expressing his respect for the Pacers and noting that he rarely criticizes NBA refs. Still, he made his frustrations very clear.
“The fact of the matter, that’s on the referees,” Atkinson said. “Maybe they’re miscalls or maybe I’m misinterpreting the rules. But I’ve got a problem when we’ve got two of our best players doubtful for tomorrow’s game. It’s hard for me to get my head around that.”
Atkinson’s use of the word “doubtful” added some additional concern to the situation. By his own explanation, questionable and doubtful exist in a similar bucket, but by NBA standards, they’re two very different designations.
If Mobley and Hunter are truly just questionable, there is a good chance they’ll be able to suit up and play through their respective ailments. If it’s doubtful, however, it would signal that neither player is likely to play.
Atkinson’s final comments on the matter was calling it a “real concern.” What that officially means remains to be seen. The Cavaliers have until 5:30 on Monday to release their Game 2 injury report.
