Cleveland Cavaliers rookie Evan Mobley on Monday was ruled out of returning versus the Orlando Magic due to a sprained left ankle, the team announced.
Mobley suffered the injury midway through the second quarter. His left ankle appeared to land on the foot of Magic rookie Franz Wagner after attempting to contest his shot. He looked to be in immediate pain and eventually hobbled off the court.
He finished with six points and three rebounds in 13 minutes of work.
The third pick was able to limp back to the locker room but was in visible discomfort. Cavaliers head coach J.B. Bickerstaff did not have an update on Mobley after the game but it was reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN that X-rays on the injury were negative.
Evan Mobley walks to the locker room after suffering a scary looking ankle roll. pic.twitter.com/HZteTt7kzt
— Bally Sports Cleveland (@BallySportsCLE) March 28, 2022
The loss of Mobley figures to greatly impact the Cavaliers for as long as he is out of the lineup. He has helped anchor the Cavaliers’ defense throughout the season and is a huge reason why they rank fourth in efficiency on that end of the floor.
“I think he rolled it pretty good,” Kevin Love said. “Hopefully, he will be back sooner rather than later. It definitely gutted us to lose Evan, whether it be for a game, two games, three games. We just need to keep fighting and hope that he recovers quickly and can be back out there with us because he means so much to the team.”
Mobley, in 67 games, is averaging 14.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.6 blocks. He leads all first-year players in rebounding and blocks while he is fifth in scoring. He needs one more point to become the eighth rookie in team history to reach at least 1,000 points.
The 7-footer is viewed by many as the front-runner to win Rookie of the Year after a sensational first year with the Cavaliers. The team will certainly be holding its breath that the injury is not significant and its franchise cornerstone will miss minimal time.
This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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