The Cleveland Cavaliers took another hit to their roster when they lost Lauri Markannen to what is being called a “pretty significant” ankle sprain in their victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder over the weekend. The Cavaliers are already without Ricky Rubio and Collin Sexton, who is lost with knee injuries for the remainder of the season.
Markannen suffered the injury to his right ankle in the first half and never returned to the game.
Lauri Markkanen went down on the court with an apparent ankle injury. 😳
— NBA Analysis Network (@HoopAnalysisNet) January 23, 2022
He was carried off the court by his teammates and is headed straight back to the locker room. Hope nothing’s serious. 😓
Prayers up for Lauri. 🙏🏽pic.twitter.com/MmoLU4wUG2
The early injury report came from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor. He also reported that the injury is not linked to his knee or Achilles, with more information after more tests are conducted. On Monday, Fedor reported that Markannen will miss the Cavs’ game against the Knicks.
#Cavs Lauri Markkanen is OUT tomorrow with a right ankle sprain.
— Chris Fedor (@ChrisFedor) January 23, 2022
Markkanen hurt himself landing on his right leg trying to challenge Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s driving layup. Up until that point, the 24-year-old seven-footer had a solid game scoring 9 points to go with two rebounds and one block before exiting the game.
Markannen has been one of several surprises during the Cavaliers’ resurgent 2021-2022 campaign. The Cavs are 28-17, good for fifth in the Eastern Conference playoff race as of Monday. Before suffering his ankle injury, Markkanen hit his scoring stride in the last 10 games scoring 14.3 points per game on 52.0 percent shooting from the field.
