FLASH > Kyrie Irving OUT 3-4 months

ESPNCleveland.com

By Tony Cartagena

CLEVELAND – The body works in mysterious ways.

In a statement released by the Cleveland Cavaliers, point guard Kyrie Irving will miss the remainder of the NBA Finals with a fractured left kneecap, suffered during overtime of the Cavs' Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors.

“(Irving) will have surgery to repair the knee in the coming days at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland by Cavaliers head team physician Dr. Richard Parker. His recovery time is projected to be three to four months and his status will be updated as appropriate.”

Moments before the diagnosis was released, head coach David Blatt told USA Today that the situation was “not good.”

Now confirmed, LeBron James was also asked how the team would respond if Irving was unable to go.

“The good thing about it, we’ve been in this position before," he said. "If (Irving's) not able to go – we’re not quite sure right now. But, if he’s not able to go, it’s something that’s not new to us. So next man up and guys will be ready for the challenge.”

Matthew Dellavedova, J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert are the next men up and will have to deliver if the Cavs are going to have a remote chance at winning a title. It was Dellavedova who started in Irving’s place when he was forced to sit-out Games 2 and 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals, averaging 14 points in those two starts.
A look back

The series of events that took place after Irving left the game in overtime.

Kyrie Irving sat at his locker following the Cleveland Cavaliers’ NBA Finals Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors with a towel draped over his shoulders and ice on his knee. He was openly emotional about the non-contact knee injury that forced him to limp off of the court during overtime and hobble into the locker room.

“Obviously you can (hear) in the tone of my voice that I am a little worried,” he said. “It’s a natural reaction and I just want to make sure everything is okay. I will take the necessary steps to see what is going on.”

The first step in that process was to keep all pressure off of his tendinitis ridden left knee – crutching out of Oracle Arena.

The injury first surfaced against the Chicago Bulls in the second round of the playoffs when Irving was, as he put it, “overcompensating” to take pressure off of a right foot strain suffered in round one.

Cavs personnel released that he would require an MRI before the team medical staff could give an official status update or diagnosis.

“Yes I will,” Irving confirmed about having the MRI. “That is part of the necessary steps to make sure everything is alright in my knee.

“My ACL is fine. My MCL is fine. There are just other parts in the knee that could affect what is going on. Obviously I hope it is just a re-aggravation of what was originally going on.”

Irving found himself at an initial loss when questioned about the pain, injury specifics and possible recourse or rehabilitation.

“I got to figure out what’s going on honestly,” he said. “This one felt a little different. Obviously I had to leave the game and I don’t know exactly what is going on but I will figure it out in the next two days.

“I don’t know what I felt, but it obviously didn’t feel right. It was a little bit different that what I had been experiencing in the Chicago series. It was a quick pinch and then I could still feel what was going on in my knee. This time was a little bit different than the other time.”

He scored 23 points in 44 minutes while contributing seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and two blocked shots.

“I’m a little disappointed and it’s frustrating,” Irving added. “Coming in I felt amazing, so it’s like this is a set back that I kind of just have to take with a grain of salt.”

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