Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving, who has missed 29 games in his two-year NBA career, is going to miss the next three to four weeks and possibly the remainder of the season with a sprained shoulder. Irving also missed the majority of his lone season at Duke University, injuring his toe nine games into the season and coming back just before the NCAA tournament began.
Irving injured his shoulder Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors, when he drove into the lane and slammed into Raptors' rookie center Jonas Valanciunas, getting knocked out of bounds. The Cavaliers will likely be cautious with the reigning Rookie of the Year with one month remaining in the season and no playoff hopes. After a practice yesterday, head coach Byron Scott said ''We just have to wait and see what happens. I don't want to speculate and say, 'Hey, if he can get back he'll get back. If he can't, he can't.' We're just going to have to wait until it's completely healed and go from there.'' Last week, Scott had mentioned the possibility of the Cavaliers shutting down Irving due to soreness he was experiencing with regards to a hyperextended knee that forced him out of three games in February.
This new injury has raised concerns about Irving's durability, but Scott said he isn't concerned with the amount of injuries his young star has sustained in a short time. ''He's still very young and his body hasn't fully developed,'' Scott said. ''I'm just not that concerned about it, to be honest with you. All the injuries that he has gotten have been legitimate injuries. It's not something that keeps recurring over and over again."
This season Irving has been a marvel when on the court. He is averaging 23 points, 5.7 assists, and 1.6 steals a night while hitting 47 percent of his shots, 41 percent from 3-point land, and 84 percent from the free throw line.
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