Eastern Notes: Rubio, Iwundu, Beal, Livers

Cavaliers guard Ricky Rubio, who left Tuesday’s game after injuring his left knee, will get an MRI on that knee today to determine the severity of the injury, according to ESPN’s Andrew Lopez and Adrian Wojnarowski.

Rubio has played a key role in the Cavaliers’ resurgence this season — although he hasn’t been in the starting lineup for most of the year, the veteran point guard has logged 970 total minutes, the second-highest mark on the team.

Rubio, who wasn’t able to put any weight on his left leg as he left the court on Tuesday night, tore his left ACL back in 2012, Lopez notes. The Cavaliers are holding their breath and hoping that this injury isn’t as serious as that one.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

• Hawks wing Wes Iwundu has exited the health and safety protocols, sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). According to Woj, Iwundu will rejoin the team in Chicago on Wednesday ahead of its game vs. the Bulls.
• Wizards guard Bradley Beal, who stated in September that he remained unvaccinated, has since received a COVID-19 vaccine, people familiar with the situation tell Ava Wallace of The Washington Post. Beal is currently in the health and safety protocols, but his updated vaccinated status was “welcome news to many in the organization,” says Wallace.
• After growing up in Kalamazoo and playing his college ball at Michigan, Isaiah Livers appreciated the opportunity to stay close to home with the Pistons and tells James L. Edwards III of The Athletic that he had a sense entering this year’s draft that Detroit would try to land him. “(General manager) Troy (Weaver), we were talking. A lot of the pre-draft, he was very interested,” Livers said. “He told me straight-up that he was interested in me and talked about what I could bring to the table, to the team. Once he told me that, he was one of the few GMs to say that to me. I thought he was definitely going to grab me if he had the chance. I was ready.”