The Athletic reported Wednesday that the Cleveland Cavaliers have been fined $100,000 by the NBA for intentionally keeping two of their All-Star players, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley, out of their Tuesday's game against the Miami Heat under the pretext of "rest."

According to the report, the NBA decided to fine the Cavaliers for violating the "Player Participation Policy."

This revised rule, introduced prior to the 2023/24 season to prevent teams from selectively managing player availability due to tight schedules, explicitly states that no team can have more than one All-Star player absent from a same game.

Under this rule, any player selected to an All-NBA Team or All-Star Team in the past three seasons will be disqualified.

The rule also includes exceptions, such as injuries, personal reasons, and pre-approved consecutive playing time restrictions based on a player's age, career workload, or history of serious injuries.

It's worth noting that the Cavaliers are not the first team to be fined for violating this rule.

In January 2024, the Brooklyn Nets were fined $100,000 for suddenly resting several players in a game they lost to the Milwaukee Bucks a few weeks earlier than that.

This game against the Miami Heat is one of three back-to-back games the Cavaliers will play in four nights.

Even without Mitchell, Mobley, and Darius Garland and Max Strus who were sidelined with toe and foot injuries respectively, the Cavaliers managed a 130-116 comeback victory despite trailing in the fourth quarter.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, with a 7-3 record in their last 10 games, currently sit second in the Eastern Conference with a 10-5 record.

Mitchell was named to the All-NBA First Team last season, his second career selection; Mobley was named to the All-NBA Second Team for the first time last season.

Last season, the Cavaliers advanced to the playoffs as the top seed in the Eastern Conference but lost to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semi-finals.

This season, Donovan Mitchell is averaging 30.9 points per game so far, ranking fifth in the league, which would be a career high.

His field goal percentage is also a career high of 50.9%, and his three-point percentage is 38.8%.

The star guard scored 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting against the Bucks on Monday.

Evan Mobley has also had an outstanding season, averaging 18.9 points per game and attempting a career-high 4.7 three-pointers per game.