Kyrie Irving's Injury Completely Changes The Finals
Multiple media reports have stated that Cavaliers star point guard Kyrie Irving is out for the rest of the 2015 NBA Finals, after suffering a fractured kneecap in Thursday's Game 1. Irving is expected to need 3 to 4 months of rehab time, once surgery is performed. Needless to say, this development greatly diminishes the Cavaliers chances of beating the already favored Warriors, who own a 1-0 series lead, as well as the home court advantage.
Irving played in only 51 and 59 games respectively, in his first 2 seasons in the NBA, but has been able to stay healthy in the 2 seasons since. Irving took part in just 11 games, during his only year at Duke, after suffering through a toe injury.
This is the second major injury the Cavaliers have endured during the playoffs, with Kevin Love injuring his shoulder in their first round series against the Celtics.
Remarkably, LeBron James is now the only Cleveland player from their opening night starting lineup still active in the finals. In addition to losing Irving and Love, Anderson Varejao hurt his Achilles during the regular season, while Dion Waiters was traded to the Thunder.
In what looked to be a dream matchup for the NBA has now likely turned into what could be a very short 4 or 5-game series victory by the Warriors.
Here is a statement from Irving, posted to his Instagram page.
