Cleveland Cavaliers injury updates: Status of Darius Garland, De'Andre Hunter, Evan Mobley revealed for Game 3 vs. Pacers

Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and De’Andre Hunter will return tonight for Game 3 against the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Pacers have a 2-0 lead in the series.

Garland hasn’t played since the Pacers’ Game 2 win over the Miami Heat on April 23. In the win, Garland suffered a sprained left big toe.

Garland’s return will be a massive boost for the Cavaliers, especially on offense. Garland is averaging 20.6 points and 6.7 assists per game this season while shooting 40.1% from beyond the arc.

Mobley sprained his left ankle in Cleveland’s Game 1 loss against the Pacers and missed Game 2 because of it. The star big man’s absence was obvious in Game 2, in which the Pacers shot 51.8% from the field and tallied 50 points in the paint.

De’Andre Hunter plays a slightly smaller role than Garland and Mobley, but is still integral to the Cavaliers’ success. After all, the small forward is averaging 17.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game this season.

Hunter suffered a sprained right thumb in the Cavaliers’ Game 1 loss against the Pacers when he crashed to the floor during a hard fall. He scored 11 points in 30 minutes against the Pacers.

With the three stars returning, the Cavaliers will be hungry for a win tonight. Not to mention, Game 2 ended in no shortage of controversy.

On Wednesday, the NBA released its “Last 2-Minute Report,” which stated that there were three incorrect no-calls in the final minute of Game 2. Alas, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson refused to blame the officials for his team’s loss.

“I think we always have recency bias. So what happened in the last 30 seconds? It’s like, how’d you lose that 20-point lead,” Atkinson said after practice on Thursday. “I’d say it was coaching decisions, player decisions, and then referee decisions.

“We all made mistakes. And then if you put it kind of a ledger, you add all those up and that their minus-20 goes to, oh my gosh. We had plenty of decisions where we could have made it. I’m kind of there with that.”

The Cavaliers and Pacers will square off in Game 3 at 7:30 p.m. ET tonight. The game will air live on ESPN. The winner of the series will advance to the NBA Playoffs’ Eastern Conference Finals.