Kenny Atkinson Gives Encouraging Jaylon Tyson, Peyton Watson Injury Update

Jaylon Tyson's sprained right ankle will keep him out for a third straight game Wednesday night, when the Cleveland Cavaliers see the Oklahoma City Thunder again two days after a 117-112 loss to them at Rocket Arena.

Peyton Watson is out again, too. Tightness in his right hamstring kept him from playing Monday.

Watson had started all six games before that. Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson grouped him with Tyson.

"He's been on court lately, progressing well," Atkinson said. "This isn't gonna be a long-term thing. Put Peyton in that boat too."

"Both have been on court with pretty high intensity ramp up," Atkinson continued. "So trending well for both of them."

On Oct. 29, the Cavaliers added Tyson to the injury report as questionable at Atlanta with a cervical strain. He was cleared to play that night, and Cleveland lost to the Hawks 114-111.

One day later, the listing changed to a right ankle sprain, and the Cavaliers ruled him out of their Oct. 31 game in Milwaukee. Cleveland beat the Bucks 136-111 without him. He sat again Monday while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a season-high 43 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 32.6 seconds left.

Tyson has come off the bench in every appearance this season after starting a career-high 42 games in 2025-26. He scored 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting in the Cavaliers' 125-121 home-opening win over the Brooklyn Nets on Oct. 24. Two nights later, he had 5 assists in a 127-125 overtime win against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

His 42 starts last season came across 66 games. He finished his second season at 13.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, shooting 49.3% from the field and 44.6% from deep, and last month Cleveland picked up the $5,641,500 option on his deal for 2027-28. The Cavaliers took him 20th in the 2024 draft, out of Cal.

Watson was questionable going into Monday, with tightness and soreness in the right hamstring, and Cleveland ruled him out before tip-off. Meleek Thomas got the start. It was the first of his career for the 34th pick in June's draft, and he lined up with James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, and Jarrett Allen.

Six games into his Cavaliers career, Watson is at 10.8 points and 4.0 rebounds, on 37.1% shooting overall and 16.7% from 3-point range.

Cleveland got Watson from the Denver Nuggets on Aug. 19, in a sign-and-trade that pulled in the Los Angeles Clippers to take Max Strus. Watson signed for four years and $88 million. It includes a player option and a trade kicker. Denver walked away with two picks: Cleveland's 2031 first-rounder, which is unprotected, and a 2032 second-rounder from the Sacramento Kings.

Last season in Denver, Watson set a career high with 14.6 points a game. He added 4.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists and made 41.1% of his 3-pointers in 54 games. Right hamstring trouble kept him out of the Nuggets' playoff run.

Nae'Qwan Tomlin is out too. A stress reaction in his lower back has kept him off the floor.

Tip-off at Paycom Center is set for 8 p.m. ET. The Cavaliers, now 4-3, return to Rocket Arena on Friday to open NBA Cup group play against the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:30 p.m. ET on Prime Video. The New York Knicks visit the next night.