Cavaliers starting forward Dean Wade departed the third quarter of Cleveland’s 132-129 defeat to Philadelphia on Friday a right knee injury, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Wade was ruled out for the Cavaliers’ next contest, a 135-131 loss to Houston on Saturday, but there has yet to be an official update on his exact diagnosis. He is considered day-to-day for now.
“He took a hit,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said of Wade. “Praying he is OK. No update yet, but he got knocked out of the game, so we’ll see.”
As Fedor notes, Cleveland has regressed mightily on defense as of late. The Cavaliers have lost three straight contests, and have gone just 2-4 across their last six games. They remain the East’s top overall seed with a 36-9 overall record, but suddenly their grip on that perch feels somewhat tenuous.
Top defenders Evan Mobley, Isaac Okoro, and Caris LeVert have all also missed time with health issues of late. Their absences, and now Wade’s, can somewhat explain Cleveland’s defensive slippage. As Fedor tweets, the Cavaliers’ defensive rating in January is 118.9, which ranks 29th in the league, ahead of only the 6-38 Wizards.
Fedor writes that Wade is their second-best defender statistically, with a 97th percentile in defensive estimated plus-minus to his credit.
Through 35 healthy bouts this season, the 6’9″ pro is averaging 6.0 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.9 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. His shooting line is .408/.349/.520.
Cavs dream season having some shake ups, reality is rough
when you start the season the way they did, you get everybody’s best punch.
The thing is they had a very healthy season overall but the real challenge starts now and winning through adversity is what is going to show if they are actually a great team capable of winning a championship or not
Got a first? You can have Yabu.
Cavs should be talking to Bulls about Williams.