The Cleveland Cavaliers are dealing with injuries across the board right now at the start of the season. With Kyrie Irving out along with Iman Shumpert, the team cannot afford to lose too many more players as they begin their chase for a championship. Their depth just got a little bit smaller as JR Smith is expected to miss time with a knee injury.
According to Dan Feldman of Pro Basketball Talk, Smith is expected to miss a few games after suffering a knee injury against the Philadelphia 76ers. According to a release from the team, Smith is also dealing with tendinitis in his quad and will miss at least two games for the Cavaliers if not more. The Cavaliers will face the New York Knicks and the 76ers again in their next two games. Those can be managed without Smith, but the matchup against the Indiana Pacers could be a tough one without the depth at the wing position.
"You know the roster," head coach David Blatt said, via ESPN.com. "We got a lot of guys that have got to fill in. We've certainly been in that situation before and we're in that situation again. So, everybody has got to step up."
With Smith now out, Matthew Dellavedova is expected to get more playing time along with Jared Cunningham. The injuries to several players just pushes the return of Irving to which there is no timetable set for the point guard to get back on the court. According to ESPN, Irving is slowly increasing his workload, but the Cavaliers are still not sure when the point guard will return to the team. That is putting pressure on LeBron James and Kevin Love to pick up the slack while Mo Williams works in as the starting point guard for the time being. With Smith and Shumpert out, the Cavaliers need Irving healthy sooner rather than later.
For now, the Cavaliers are riding the early success of Love and Richard Jefferson. Both players have taken a lot of the pressure of the shoulders of James in terms of scoring and that will hopeful continue for Cleveland as they deal with injuries. The upcoming stretch for the team is not difficult so the loss of Smith should not have a great impact. According to Love, he and James are very comfortable carrying the team for the time being.
I think as far as flow of the game and what we do in the half court, you will see me touching the ball a lot and us two working together, so I'm confident in LeBron, too," Love said, via ESPN.com. "I think he's going to do all right."
