ATLANTA — The Cleveland Cavaliers are down to their final two regular-season games of the year before they switch into playoff mode. In their penultimate game, the team had several guys sidelined due to injuries, but also saw the return of a major piece of their success.
Cavs wing Jaylon Tyson has been out for the last 10 games with a left great toe bone bruise. Head coach Kenny Atkinson gave an update on Tyson earlier in the week.
"He's ramped up," Atkinson said after their Wednesday night win over the Atlanta Hawks. "I think this one is more like get to conditioning because he had to be off court for a while, but he's gotten into some real four-on-four or five-on-five, three-on-three, but I think this was a case of, let's get him one more of those and get the conditioning level where it needs to be. So, hoping it'll be good for this next game coming up here."
Before Friday's rematch against the Hawks, Atkinson's hopes came to fruition. Upgraded to probable on the Cavs' pregame injury report, Tyson was cleared to play and announced in the starting lineup for the game.
He'll join James Harden, Max Strus, Dean Wade, and Evan Mobley in the first five.
Tyson's return comes at a good time, with two games to ramp him up ahead of the playoffs.
The Cavs are also looking to ramp up Wade, who returned from an ankle sprain in the first game against the Hawks on Wednesday.
Cleveland's health will be crucial to the success they hope to have in the postseason, which is a major factor in the decisions heading into the final games of the regular season. As Tyson and Wade see time on the court, the Cavs are managing the injuries of other key guys, like Jarrett Allen, who is out with right knee injury management, Sam Merrill, who is out with left hamstring injury management, and Donovan Mitchell, who is out with right ankle injury management.
