CLEVELAND -- Forward Wally Szczerbiak could be out for three weeks with a sprained left knee, yet another injury for the bruised Cleveland Cavaliers.
Szczerbiak injured his knee in the closing seconds of the third quarter of Tuesday night's 97-93 win over the Orlando Magic. He underwent an MRI exam that revealed a sprained medial colateral ligament, the team said.
Szczerbiak has been a key contributor for the Cavaliers, who raised their home record to 30-1 and have a 4½-game lead over the Boston Celtics for the best record in the Eastern Conference. The 10-year veteran has played three different positions and is averaging 7.1 points, 3.0 rebounds and 21 minutes.
He missed one week earlier this season with a bruised right knee.
The Cavaliers have had more than their share of key injuries. Forward Ben Wallace has missed 11 games and is expected to be out another three weeks after breaking his right leg on Feb. 26. Center Zydrunas Ilgauskas (16 games, broken ankle), guard Delonte West (16, broken wrist), swingman Sasha Pavlovic (nine, sprained ankle), guard Daniel Gibson (five, bruised toe), forward Tarence Kinsey (seven, ankle sprain) and forward Darnell Jackson (11, broken wrist) have all missed significant time.
Guard Eric Snow hasn't played this season because of a knee injury.
Ilgauskas is playing despite a broken nose and jammed thumb.
Szczerbiak had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in 2006 when he was with the Celtics. He missed the final seven games after averaging 19.0 points for Boston and the Minnesota Timberwolves, who drafted him with the sixth overall pick in 1999.
With Szczerbiak sidelined, Cavaliers coach Mike Brown, who has used 10 different starting lineups, will again have to adjust his rotation. He'll likely give more playing time to Kinsey and Gibson, who hasn't played in Cleveland's past two games and has struggled with his shot while recovering from the toe injury.
The Cavaliers host the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday and will play six of their next seven at home.
I except Pavlovic and Gibson get majority of the minutes even though they say Gibson and Kinsey will get it. Even though I want Kinsey to get Gibson's minutes. How do you think this effects the Cavaliers?
I hope Kinsey gets the majority of the PT. I want to see more of him. Gibson just needs a mental break. I think he can be of some use to us at some point, but he hasn't had it this year
Gibson just needs a mental break. I think he can be of some use to us at some point, but he hasn't had it this year
Actually Gibson has been struggling with a toe injury all year. That's why he's on the bench now, so he can get some rest and hopefully be in better shape when we need him. If we could have last year's Boobie on this team, we would be unstoppable
Actually Gibson has been struggling with a toe injury all year. That's why he's on the bench now, so he can get some rest and hopefully be in better shape when we need him. If we could have last year's Boobie on this team, we would be unstoppable
The toe injury has definately been a major factor, but it also seems like the rotation on his shot has been off as well. Just a flat trajectory towards the basket. I'm no doctor, so I don't know if that has something to do with him maybe focusing on the pain as opposed to the fundamentals of his game.
The toe injury has definately been a major factor, but it also seems like the rotation on his shot has been off as well. Just a flat trajectory towards the basket. I'm no doctor, so I don't know if that has something to do with him maybe focusing on the pain as opposed to the fundamentals of his game.
IIRC, he said he had to jump differently because of his toe, so naturally his shot is gonna be different. It also doesn't help that he's probably thinking about his toe when he's shooting the ball.
Szczerbiak out with knee injury
