Kyrie Irving is done for the season. A report from the Huffington Post reveals that Irving will require season-ending surgery to address a broken left knee cap which will certainly deal a big blow to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ title aspirations.
Game one saw Irving visibly not at a 100% despite putting up decent numbers (23 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks). But a collision with Golden State's Klay Thompson ended his night and eventually his NBA season. We saw Irving grimacing in pain, visibly upset, as he headed into the dugout. He left the game with about 2 minutes left in overtime.
With this development, the Cavaliers’ plight may now solely fall on the shoulders of Lebron James and some of the other guys who will now be required to step up in the absence of their main frontline. Note that the team already lost Kevin Love in the first round of the NBA playoffs after suffering a shoulder injury against Boston. Love and Irving will now be relegated to the sidelines. But still some are hoping that James' effort and stepped-up games from guys like J.R. Smith, Timofey Mozgov and Imam Shumpert would be enough to win this year’s NBA plum.
Should Irving have played at all?
There is a rumored tension among the Cavaliers’ camp, Irving’s agent Jeff Wechsler, and father Drederick. Apparently, it concerns the proper handling of Irving’s injury, something that remained a question heading into game 1 of the NBA finals. Irving, 23, definitely has a bright future ahead of him but has had to deal with injuries along the way. So did the Cavs force Irving to play in the finals knowing he was not 100%?
Such seems to be the issue right now and it has reportedly been going on for some weeks, according to a report by ESPN. Irving’s agent and father Drederick have been pretty cautious on how to go about Irving’s condition and their worst fears may have just happened.
The blow is a big one for the Cavs and head coach David Blatt will need to come up with something to offset the unfortunate loss of Irving. James, criticized for making bad shots despite finishing with a game-high 44 points in the 108-100 overtime loss, may need to come up with something superb to give the Golden State Warriors something to worry about. Game 2 of the NBA Finals will be at the Oracle Arena in Oakland California at 8 p.m. ET.