Dribbles: Cavs’ difficult road about to get a lot tougher

Random dribbles ahead of the Cavaliers’ road game against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.

1. Donovan Mitchell is again out with an illness. That marks his third straight missed game. I know a few people who have the flu right now. One said if Mitchell has what he has, he’s not surprised that Mitchell is out again. It’s going around.

2. So let’s hope for the Cavs’ sake (and his own) that he gets better soon. They are entering another difficult stretch after four straight home games.

3. The Bulls have been playing very well lately — which just happens to coincide with the foot injury to guard Zach LaVine. That may be just a coincidence, but what a bad look for LaVine, who reportedly is available in trades. He’s actually a really good guy and a fine player, but clearly not a fit in Chicago.

4. Either way, the Cavs have a toughie ahead of them. It would be that way even if they had Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley. But they don’t have any of them.

5. Translation: It will take a basketball miracle for them to win in Chicago. Oh, and as an aside, Sam Merrill is questionable with the wrist injury that limited him to 12 minutes in Thursday’s loss to the Pelicans. Merrill had been the hottest guy on the team for two games.

6. That leaves the Cavs (16-13) to try to win, on the road, with Jarrett Allen, Max Strus, Caris LeVert, Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade, Georges Niang, Tristan Thompson, and rookie Craig Porter Jr. Nice players, but not the approach the Cavs were hoping to take to the season.

7. Still, everybody considered the Cavs to be the pleasant surprise of the early season last year at this time. Guess what their record was after 29 games then? That’s right — 18-11. So despite all the injuries this year, they’re only two wins off that pace.

8. The Cavs are also only one game behind the Orlando Magic for fourth in the Eastern Conference. I think the top three will end up being Boston, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. So the Cavs will be battling for fourth for most of the season — with Miami and New York. I think the Magic will eventually drop down to seventh-ish.

9. Of course, I always write that people shouldn’t get ahead of themselves when it comes to the season, and here I am projecting the East standings with a whopping 53 games to go. Please accept my apologies.

10. OK, that’s it for now. After tonight, the Cavs visit Luka Doncic and the Mavericks, then face Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks at home. Yeah, good luck with all that. Hopefully, they at least get Mitchell back to have a fighting chance.