Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley returned from a five-game absence in last night’s 126-124 road loss against the New York Knicks, which is quite a fast turnaround, given the tricky nature of calf injuries.
The reigning Defensive Player of the Year had 14 points, nine rebounds, and three assists on 6-for-8 shooting from the field in 25 minutes of action. Mobley was asked after the game how he was able to return to full strength so quickly for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
“Stayed on my treatment. I feel like I naturally just heal fast; this is a thing in the past,” Mobley told Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “I just stayed on my treatment every day and gradually built my way up, and I felt good enough to play today, and I feel like it was a good game to come back on.
“We wanted to play it right and not rush back or anything. We definitely did play it right, and from the day it happened, it was about two weeks of healing time. I think it was enough time to heal, and I felt great out there tonight,” he ended.
Cleveland Cavaliers News: Donovan Mitchell laments missed opportunity vs. New York Knicks
The Cleveland Cavaliers had two chances to dispatch the New York Knicks on the road, as they built a double-digit lead in the first and third quarters, only for the hosts to rally and eke out a win in the final period. Despite squandering a golden opportunity to win on Christmas Day, Donovan Mitchell took a lot of positives out of the defeat.
“I would say this was the best 40/30 minutes we’ve played all season, and I don’t mean the ending, I think there was times the offensive rebounds, and we slowed our pace up,” Mitchell stated. “We can’t lose regardless. Outside of that, we played our ass off, and I am proud of everybody in this locker room.
“That’s a lot of guys first, our first Christmas game in the Garden, it’s rocking. But it was a lot of fun, a lot of things process-wise, that we can be really happy about, that we really haven’t see from us all year, so that’s a positive,” he continued.
