The Cleveland Cavaliers will rise and fall this season based on LeBron James. With Kyrie Irving out until potentially January, James is the glue for the team and having him injured could hurt the outlook of the long-term season. James has downplayed any injury issues that crept up in the preseason, but the back injury that continues to be reported could be more serious that originally anticipated.
According to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, James is dealing with a back injury and it appears to be getting progressively worse. A report of the injury first happened in the preseason when James got an anti-inflammatory injection and sat out for most of the preseason. According to Windhorst, James' back problem is in his lower back and it could be a factor for the rest of his career. While the Cavaliers are reportedly not panicked about the situation and do not believe it will factor into title hopes, James could be seeing added rest during the year. James continues to downplay the issue as the Cavaliers sit at 1-1 on the year.
"I feel pretty good," James said, via ESPN.com. "It helps when we come out and play well as a team and I don't have to exert a lot of energy."
Could James' back injury be factoring in to why he wants the offense to be fed through Kevin Love this season? James told the media that he predicts Love will lead the team and get back to All-Star form after he posted his first double-double of the year. Love sits just behind James in point totals this year and the star believes the forward can do a lot more as the season progresses.
"We'll use Kevin however he wants to be used," James said, via ESPN.com. "I told you Kevin is going to be our main focus. He's going to have a hell of a season. He's going to get back to that All-Star status. He's the focal point of us offensively. I know I can go out and get mine when I need it."
While Love will be the main assist to James, the Cavaliers are getting a lot more help from their bench than originally predicted. Richard Jefferson, JR Smith and Matthew Dellavedova have been thriving at the start of the year. James admitted that has taken a lot of the pressure off him as the team hopes the trend continues. With Irving out and Anderson Varejao playing limited minutes, getting help from players like Jefferson is a big gain for the Cavaliers.
"We were talking about it on the bench today," Smith said, via ESPN.com. "This is the first time we've got somebody who can come in and actually give 'Bron a rest when he needs to instead of him coming in the game because we're losing the lead or something like that."
Jefferson will be big for James and his injury moving forward. When Irving gets back, the expectation is that he and Love can take some pressure off the star's shoulders as well.
