The Cavs have survived, and more, Irving's absence.
The Cleveland Cavaliers, winners of their last four games and sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference, executed their plan to perfection during Irving's recovery from knee surgery: They have played well and kept unnecessary pressure to return from creeping into Irving's head. The team continues to say he needs to pass a few more tests, but sources say the fifth-year point guard has been ready, and his teammates have played a major role to get him there. The stage is set for Kyrie Irving to make his long-awaited season debut Sunday afternoon against the Philadelphia 76ers.Īlthough nothing is official, Irving, 23, has done all that's asked of him. According to Chris Haynes of, this is the case (read the whole article): The big caveat here is that the assumption is that Irving is, basically, healthy. There's a temptation to say, hey, Kyrie, go have yourself have a Happy New Year and we'll talk in January. Third year guard Matthew Dellavedova has performed at an insanely high level at point guard in Irving's absence. Even if they did, it's hard to see it being something that precludes another Cavs Finals appearance. The lead the Eastern Conference and for as good as the Indiana Pacers have looked, not many really think they will get the top seed of the East. It also makes sense for the Cavs to take their time with Irving given their early success. The Cavs can be as cautious as they want, but it won't guarantee Irving is ready to play in the Eastern Conference Finals. Injuries happen and while prevention is something certain teams do better than others, there will always going to be a certain lack of predictability. After the Cavs played Irving after he missed the first three games of the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 4 even though they were at home and on the verge of sweeping the Hawks, a course correction might even be needed. In other words, slow playing Irving's return is completely reasonable, and in fact prudent. After the Cavs were left without both Irving and Kevin Love after Game 1 of the Finals last season, the team is cognizant of the importance of maintaining their availability when things really start to matter - in May, and then hopefully June.
Irving missed most of his Freshman season at Duke, and has seen more than his fair share of bumps and bruises in his first four years in the NBA. He's still out from a knee injury sustained during the Finals, and while the initial timeline provided for the injury would have had him back and on the court by now, the Cavs have played things extremely cautious. While the Cleveland Cavaliers are 17-7 and lead the NBA's Eastern Conference, their All-NBA point guard Kyrie Irving hasn't played a single minute.