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Kyrie Irving Suffers Fractured Kneecap in Season-Ending Injury

By Jake Hyman

June 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) moves the ball against the defense of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the second half in game one of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
June 4, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) moves the ball against the defense of Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) during the second half in game one of the NBA Finals. at Oracle Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports /
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Kyrie Irving suffered a fractured left kneecap in overtime of Cleveland’s Game 1 loss to the Golden State Warriors Thursday, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. Irving will need season-ending knee surgery.

Driving against Klay Thompson with Cleveland down 102-98, Irving’s legs buckled as the young talent deferred to J.R. Smith and came up limping on the subsequent defensive possession. The fourth-year man was evidently frustrated as he was walked off the court in disgust and threw his jersey to the ground.

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Losing Irving, who finished with 23 points and four steals, is a monumental blow for the Cavs, who are looking for their first championship as an organization. Irving sat out two games previously against the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals, with the Cleveland sweeping their way to the NBA Finals.

The Warriors are a different beast. The Cavs needed Irving immensely and started the ailing point guard despite nagging injuries. He finished with 44 minutes, took the second most shots in the game outside of LeBron James, and covered many isolation sets against the Warriors guards on defense.

Players around the league gave their support to Irving:

Now sans Kevin Love and Irving, head coach David Blatt is going to ask a lot more of his interior in Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson, who dominated Game 1 on a combined 18 points and 22 rebounds.

Also, James taking even more initiative on offense, after scoring a game-high 44 points on 38 shots from the floor, could be a constant theme for Cleveland to avoid falling behind two games in the series.

Irving’s replacement, Matthew Dellavedova, assumes the starting point guard role for the remainder of the series. He’s a more of a threat from deep than Irving, but doesn’t offer the rare skill set of Irving as a multi-talented lead guard.

However, the primary ball handler and floor general remains James, who has shown leadership traits and premier decision making throughout the course of his career.

The Cavs, already situated in a daunting uphill climb for championship glory, also lose what Irving brought on defense as a more dependable option to Dellavadova against Stephen Curry. How they formulate a different rotation is an intriguing storyline heading into Game 2 to compensate for the unfortunate event.

Next: 2015 NBA Finals: Game 1 Recap

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