Kyrie Irving will miss Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals, reports Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports. Irving is questionable to play in Game 3 on Sunday, according to Spears.
Kyrie Irving out for Game 2 with knee injury
The Cavaliers point guard has been battling a knee injury for a while.
Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
Irving has been battling knee tendonitis for a while but has tried to play through it. He has seen his minutes reduced and monitored but hadn't missed a postseason game until now. Irving has clearly been hobbled and finished Game 1 with 10 points and six assists. It makes sense for the Cavaliers to keep him out for a day to rest his knee to come back stronger later in the series, especially after winning the opening matchup in Atlanta.
Irving was the Cavaliers' second-leading scorer during the regular season and is averaging 19 points on 47 percent shooting from beyond the arc during the playoffs. This season Cleveland has gone 1-6 without Irving, so needless to say, his absence will be hard to mask. Back up point guard Matthew Dellavedova has been playing well, but he's not as deadly an outside threat and cannot bail out bad possessions with one-on-one scoring like Irving can.
LeBron James has been the team's primary playmaker in the postseason and that will continue, only now his burden will be heavier. The Cavaliers don't have a third point guard on their roster, so Iman Shumpert will likely see some time at lead guard. He's more of a finisher than a creator, however, so Cleveland might need J.R. Smith to handle the ball when James is resting.
The Cavaliers have found ways to keep winning without injured power forward Kevin Love, and now they will face the challenge of doing the same without Irving.
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