The Cleveland Cavaliers opened their 2022-23 season on Wednesday, and they were dealt a hard-fought loss at the hands of the Toronto Raptors.
The Cavs had to navigate the second half of the game without star guard Darius Garland after he left with an eye injury in the second quarter.
The injury has been labeled as a left eyelid laceration, and it’s going to keep him out of action for at least one game.
He has been ruled out of Cleveland’s matchup against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
According to Cavs insider Chris Fedor, the current feeling is that Garland will likely also miss Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards.
#Cavs Darius Garland didn’t come here to Chicago. He is not with the team. The Cavs practiced today at UIC and have been preparing as if he wouldn’t be available. The current feeling is Sunday’s home opener is improbable as well. But nothing official has been decided on Sunday.
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) October 21, 2022
Although Fedor’s report leaves the door open for Garland to potentially play Sunday, it sounds like he probably won’t be available.
That means the Cavs could be without the 22-year-old for both of their games this weekend.
Rocky Start
The injury bug wasn’t kind to the Cavs last season, and fans were hoping the team would have better injury luck this season.
So far, that obviously hasn’t been the case.
The good news is that Garland’s injury probably won’t be a super long-term issue, but it’s not ideal Cleveland is already missing a key player so early in the season.
Last season, Garland averaged 21.7 points and 8.6 assists per game, earning an All-Star selection in the process.
His production is going to be hard to replace while he’s out with his eyelid laceration, but the fact that the Cavs now have Donovan Mitchell in the mix should make things easier.
