The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without Kyrie Irving for the rest of the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors after the point guard suffered a fractured kneecap in Game 1 of the series and now he will be on the sidelines for 3-4 months as he recovers and this puts a ton of pressure on LeBron James moving forward.
Irving was injured late in Game 1 after getting tangled up with Klay Thompson and now he will be out for up to four months recovering. Irving had an MRI that revealed the injury and according to the Cavaliers official press release, this injury is not related to the knee issues Irving had earlier in the playoffs against the Chicago Bulls. Irving is the second starter to go down for the Cavaliers in the playoffs after Kevin Love injured his shoulder against the Boston Celtics.
Irving likely was not going to play in Game 2 no matter what the MRI showed, but most players on the team and members of the media speculated that he could return later in the series. The injury ended up being more serious than first predicted and now James has even more pressure on him to perform moving forward. James had 44 points in the game against the Warriors in Game 1 and a chance to win it with a final shot, but the team ended up losing.
The series now has the Warriors up 1-0 and they are looking to take things in Game 2 to go up 2-0 on Sunday. The Warriors only lost twice during the regular season and once during the playoffs at home and now they have the chance to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. The Cavs had chances, but once the game went into overtime it was all Golden State, as the team held Cleveland to just two points in the extra frame.
The 23-year-old point guard posted a message on Instagram thanking fans for the support and that he is sad to have suffered the injury, but will "be back soon." Irving was having a strong game when he went down, scoring 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists and now he will be out for the finals. Irving is one of the key players for the Cavs and he made an amazing play in the fourth to block a shot from Stephen Curry, which helped put the game in overtime.
Once Irving went off the court, the Cavaliers were not the same and that is going to put immense pressure on James. Matthew Dellavedova is not half the point guard Irving is and that could push James out of his comfort zone if he has to deal with bringing the ball up. The Cavs were outscored by 13 points once Irving went down and the overtime frame turned out to be a dud. The next game is on Sunday and will be on ABC with coverage from ESPN and the WatchESPN website from ORACLE Arena in Oakland.
Check here for more on the Irving injury.
From the Cavaliers release: "Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving left last night's NBA Finals game one in the overtime period with a left knee injury. He received an MRI today at Stanford Sports Medicine Clinic, which revealed a fractured left knee cap. He 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."
