Kyrie Irving underwent a “minimally invasive” procedure yesterday, in order to remove a tension wire in his left knee. This knee has been giving him trouble dating all the way back to the 2015 finals when he originally broke it while with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The last time Irving played this season was on March 11 in a tilt against the Indiana Pacers, when afterwards he admitted to wanting an extended break to allow the sore knee to heal. Now, it seems the problem is more severe than originally thought, and the All-Star guard will be sidelined until late in the first round of the playoffs at best.
In his first season with Boston, the 6-foot-3 point guard is averaging 24.4 points, 3.8 boards, and 5.1 dimes over 32.2 minutes per game in 60 appearances.
Even with Irvings’ multiple absences throughout the season, bench players including Terry Rozier and Shane Larkin have impressed with their increased minutes.
Other key players including Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart are dealing with injuries, but that hasn’t stopped the C’s from stealing impressive wins away from the Oklahoma City Thunder and Portland Trailblazers.
With the Celtics pretty much guaranteed to end in the second spot behind the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern conference, their first round matchup could be against the Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, or Milwaukee Bucks.
All three of those teams are within two games of one another, and have about 10 games remaining on the regular season schedule.
