Evan Mobley sprained his big toe late in the win at Madison Square Garden. He went up for a block and landed hard, and he was ruled out of Friday's game in Miami. It's his first absence of the season, and Cleveland hasn't given a timetable. Sam Merrill was also out with an elbow injury for that Knicks game. Without Mobley, Cleveland loses its most versatile defender, the player who would normally make Flagg work for every touch.
Cleveland is 6-6 as of Thursday, which is about right for a team that can't settle on what it is. The Cavaliers have lost to Oklahoma City, New York and Charlotte and blown out Philadelphia. Then they won the Garden rematch 115-107 behind a season-high 32 from James Harden and 23 from Donovan Mitchell, a week after Harden went 2-for-9 in a 12-point loss to the same Knicks. When Harden and Mitchell both score, this team is dangerous. When one of them doesn't, it has been ordinary.
The Miami game is Friday's headliner for this one. Cleveland plays at the Heat without Mobley, then flies home and tips against Dallas at 7:30 PM ET the next night. How hard Harden and Mitchell have to work in Miami, and whether the toe looks any better by Saturday, will say a lot about which version of the Cavaliers shows up. The Mavericks will be rested, and they'll have had a day to think about the 133-94 loss in Minnesota.
Matchup-wise, this is two thin frontcourts and a lot of guard play. Dallas has Flagg and a group that ran Brooklyn and Indiana off the floor at home. Cleveland has 2 high-volume scorers on the perimeter who can win a game by themselves. Whoever handles the rebounding battle without their best big is probably the one that gets it done.
