Sam Merrill elbow injury knocks him out vs. Sixers

The Cavs put out the word right at halftime, and it was not what Cleveland wanted to hear.

Merrill had a rough night before he got hurt. He started and went 0-for-3 from the field with 0 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in the first half. This elbow isn't new, either. It's the same right elbow that bugged him in the preseason, but he hadn't missed a regular season game because of it until tonight.

With Merrill out, the Cavs went to the rookie. Meleek Thomas took his spot to open the third quarter.

Credit where it's due on the beat. Several reporters had it within the same minute, and Ethan Sands came back a few minutes later to point out that Chris Fedor got there before all of them.

The bigger problem is that this roster was already short. Jarrett Allen sat out Friday after tweaking his right knee in Wednesday's 124-116 loss to Oklahoma City, so Evan Mobley is carrying the frontcourt against a Philly team built around Joel Embiid. Now the Cavs lose their starting shooter in the same game. That's a lot of rotation getting eaten in a hurry.

It doesn't get easier. Friday is the front end of a back-to-back, and both Merrill and Allen are listed questionable for Saturday against the Knicks. If Merrill can't go, expect Thomas and Tyrese Proctor to pick up the guard minutes. The thing to watch is how the elbow looks the morning after, because a problem that started in the preseason and now knocked him out of a game doesn't sound like it's going away.