Break gives banged-up Cavaliers time to heal
INDEPENDENCE, OHIO — LeBron James should have had a stethoscope hanging around his neck as he reeled off the latest medical updates on him and his teammates.
“It goes without saying that we’re banged up right now,” the pseudo Dr. J said Saturday.
As they prepare to meet the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference final, the Cavaliers are hurting.
Kyrie Irving has a tender left knee and sore right foot, James played the past two games on a sprained left ankle and has “other nicks and bruises,” guard Iman Shumpert has a strained groin, forward Tristan Thompson of Brampton, Ont., a bruised shoulder and Kevin Love is out for the post-season following shoulder surgery.
Fortunately for the Cavs, they’ve got time to ice most of those injuries and heal before Game 1 on Wednesday night in Atlanta.
Of all Cleveland’s aches and pains, Irving’s knee injury is the most significant and bears watching. The allstar point guard has been dealing with tendinitis in the knee for several weeks and he aggravated the condition on Thursday in the first half of Game 6 in Chicago. He sat out the final 33 minutes as the Cavs closed out the Bulls by getting a huge contribution from Irving’s backup, Matthew Dellavedova, who scored a team-high 19 points.
Irving was seen Friday by team doctors, who prescribed rest and Cleveland’s playmaker did not participate in Saturday’s workout at Cleveland Clinic Courts.
Cavs coach David Blatt said Irving’s status for the series opener remains in question. At this point, all the team can do is hope he gets better.
“We sat Ky out and he’s going through a lot of treatment and we’re monitoring and just hoping that he progresses from here until game time,” Blatt said. “We’re very much on top of this obviously and Ky is doing everything he possibly can to get well.”
The Cavs have managed to advance despite their health issues, but they’ll need to be closer to 100 per cent to handle the Hawks, the East’s top-seeded team, which beat Cleveland three out of four times in the regular season.
James has been impressed with Atlanta’s balance.
“You can’t just key in on one guy,” he said. “All five guys that’s on the floor at that time, you have to have your antennae up.