Cleveland Cavaliers injury report: Darius Garland upgraded for Celtics game..
The Cavaliers should be right at full strength as they face the Celtics at 7:30 p.m. Friday at TD Garden in a key East matchup. Darius Garland is not listed on the injury report, signaling he’ll be available Friday. The All-Star guard missed the past two games due to a hip contusion.
The Celtics have three rotation guys listed as questionable on their injury report: Jaylen Brown (left thigh contusion), Jrue Holiday (right hand mallet finger) and Luke Kornet (personal reasons).
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Brown sat the Wednesday loss to the Pistons after hurting his thigh in the Raptors win Tuesday. Kornet has sat the past two games due to personal reasons. Holiday’s right hand issue is new as he’s been dealing with a shoulder injury of late.
The Cavs are soaring high as they’re on an eight-game win streak and have won 12 of their last 13 games. However, that one loss is to the Celtics back on Feb. 4 in Cleveland. The Cavs, though, do have a 6.5-game lead on the Celtics for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, creating a sizable margin in the standings.
Cleveland shook up its roster ahead of the trade deadline, landing former Hawks wing De’Andre Hunter. In return, they sent away rotation guys Georges Niang and Caris LeVert, along with draft capital. Hunter is averaging 14.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists in six games (one start) for Cleveland since getting traded.
Friday’s game should have plenty of attention on it as it’s a showdown between the two best teams in the East. The Celtics are the current gold standard as reigning champs, but the Cavs are trying to get to that level. The C’s currently hold the 2-1 edge over the Cavs in the season series.
