Bucks' hunt for East's No. 2 spot bolstered with Donovan Mitchell’s looming indefinite absence for the Cavs

Milwaukee is currently 1.5 games above Cleveland in the East's second seed.

Matthew Dugandzic | Mar 18, 2024

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The Milwaukee Bucks' chances to seal a top-two finish at the Eastern Conference have gained a major boost coming from a significantly looming absence of a star player from a rival playoff team.

According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell is slated to be unavailable on an indefinite basis due to his nagging knee issues, which meanwhile opens a major opportunity for the Bucks to completely own the East's second seed over the trailing third-placed Cleveland Cavaliers.

Mitchell is out for an uncertain amount of games

Mitchell has recently missed seven straight games for the Cavs due to a bone bruise on his left knee. In the given stretch, Cleveland has gone for a poor 3-4 card without the lead star.

The 26-year-old made his return from the knee injury last Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans. Despite the Cavaliers’ 116-95 victory, Mitchell appeared rusty with 14 points and 5-16 shooting. His inconsistencies continued on the team's 117-103 Saturday defeat against the Houston Rockets, in which he tallied an abysmal 13 points in 4-13 field goal marks.

Mitchell himself admitted that he has no idea about the length of his forthcoming absence once again for Cleveland.

“I’m probably not playing next game, to be honest with you,” Mitchell told Fedor. “Just gotta take some time to rest and get it right. I thought I was ready. I’m not. It sucks. I want to be out there. But it’s clear as day. Even to myself. I can’t fool myself. Just get it right and be ready when that time comes.”

Bucks’ chase to lock the East's 2nd spot gained a strong edge

Upon picking up their 140-129 Sunday matinee win over the Phoenix Suns, the Bucks have moved to 44-24 in their record and have widened their second-place margin over the Cavs (42-25) by 1.5 games in the Eastern Conference.

The Cavaliers might have an intermediate level of difficulty to face in their remaining regular season games in contrast to the Bucks having the fourth-strongest according to Tankathon, but Mitchell's imminent absence can only provide the latter an upper hand to ultimately lock the No. 2 of the East.

The Bucks still have 14 games left on their schedule and have already seen the rejuvenating return of Khris Middleton (knee) after a 16-game inactivity.

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Published Mar 18, 2024

MATTHEW DUGANDZIC

Matthew finished his bachelor's degree in Economics (Management) at the University of Split and got his master's degree in the same field at the University of Zadar. Whether it is playing the game as an undersized 6'3'' power forward or simply watching it, Matthew can't get enough of it. After all, he has been an avid NBA fan since the 2000s. But don't get him wrong, as Matthew still loves the old-school NBA and is a true student of the game. From on-court moments to off-court stuff, whether it's about the stars of modern-day basketball or legends of the game, Matthew covers every category of the NBA world and basketball in general, as long as it makes for an engaging and exciting story.