Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving underwent successful surgery on Saturday and he will be out for a significant amount of time
The Cleveland Cavaliers announced on Saturday that injured guard Kyrie Irving underwent successful surgery on his fractured kneecap and his recovery time is expected to be around 3-4 months. Irving injured the kneecap during the Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday as the NBA Finals got underway.
Cleveland released the following statement on the status of Irving.
"Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving had successful surgery this morning in Cleveland at the Cleveland Clinic to repair his fractured left knee cap. The surgery was performed by Cavaliers head team physician Dr. Richard Parker and Dr. Damien Billow. Dr. James Rosneck assisted. Irving’s return to basketball activity is projected to be in three to four months and appropriate updates will be issued as he moves through the recovery process."
Of course, it goes without saying that this is devastating news for a Cavaliers team that not many thought stood a chance against the Warriors in the NBA Finals to begin with. As a matter of fact, the consensus opinion leading into the series this past week was that the Cavs only stood a shot at capturing the NBA title if Irving was as healthy as possible.
Throughout most of the game, it appeared that theory was proving to be very true. It was clearly evident that Irving was the difference maker that everyone thought he would be, as the Cavaliers nearly pulled off the upset on the road in Game 1. However, they would end up falling 108-100 in overtime.
In Game 1, prior to suffering the injury, Irving finished with 23 points, six assists, four steals and two blocks in 44 minutes on the floor.
Now, though, the focus turns to Irving getting as healthy as possible in a comfortable amount of time. This 3-4 month timetable that he’s been put on has him getting back to as much action as he can right around September, which would definitely be the best case scenario.
Worst case scenario is that he’s on the floor in October and may have to miss the first few games of the 2015-16 regular season.
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