Donovan Mitchell’s Game 4 absence vs. Celtics follows trend of snakebitten Cavs season — Jimmy Watkins

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell on the bench not playing in game 4 against the Boston Celtics at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.CLEVELAND, Ohio — LeBron James returned home to see what Cleveland’s new star could do against James’ old rival.

On their own, each injury could be seen as a requisite tax during a long NBA season. Taken together, however, Cleveland’s injury bug looks like a cruel curse that kept a talented core from maximizing its potential. The Cavs’ roster has inherent design flaws, but maybe Garland and Mitchell could’ve developed a healthier give and take with more on-court reps together this season.

Cleveland found its stroke early in Monday’s game during which the Cavs made 11 of 25 3-pointers during the first half. Max Strus couldn’t miss early. Sam Merrill rewarded coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s faith with two 3-pointers of his own. Even Evan Mobley joined the party with an above-the-breaks swish.

The Celtics ranked 29th in forced turnovers during the regular season, but too many of Garland’s mistakes this season have been unforced. And now that he’s making more shots and taking better care of the ball, he deserves praise where criticism has followed him during worse moments this season.Max Strus picked the perfect time to start playing like the playoff weapon in this series that Cleveland paid $64 million last summer. But he also likely left Cleveland fans wondering what took so long.

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