The 7-4 Cleveland Cavaliers find themselves sixth in the Eastern Conference and are riding a four-game winning streak. For the foreseeable future, though, they’ll have to build upon this hot start without the services of fourth-year guard Collin Sexton. The Cavs announced Monday that Sexton suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee and there is no immediate timetable on a return, while more testing awaits him.
— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) November 8, 2021
Sexton seemingly injured his knee midway through Cleveland’s victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday evening. He initially played through it, but did not take to the court following halftime. Averaging 16.0 points per game, Sexton is the team’s leading scorer and the one most prone to electric bucket-getting flurries. His absence will thrust greater responsibilities onto the quartet of Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Ricky Rubio to replace his scoring. When Lauri Markkanen leaves health and safety protocols, he, too, will likely be tasked with an uptick in scoring duties.
The Cavs had largely limited their guard rotation to Sexton, Garland and Rubio thus far, so this development could create an opportunity for Kevin Pangos, or even Dylan Windler to slide up a position and assume more minutes. The first opportunity to see how this all plays out comes Wednesday, when Cleveland returns home to face the Washington Wizards following a two-game road trip.