From the Katzenmoyer School Of Common Sense
March 28, 2008All In
March 28, 2008There is no denying the injury bug over the last few weeks. While Ben Wallace is still out with back issues, the Cavaliers are hoping to get Daniel Gibson back this weekend against the Pistons. But it may be at the expense of fellow-guard Delonte West. Brian Windhorst reports the dirt.
Delonte West has started every game and increased his scoring, shooting, rebounds and assists from his averages with the Seattle SuperSonics. But his defense has been uneven and it has resulted in large minute swings from Brown. He also hasn’t shown the ability to be a consistent shooter from the outside, which has forced Brown into some tough decisions about when to put him on the floor down the stretch.
Now West is dealing with a tweaked left ankle. The Cavs did not put him on their injury list, but he was being treated after Wednesday’s game and he did not practice on Thursday.
Ugh. With Wally Szczerbiak being up-and-down at best (mostly down) and The Wild Card has been alright, but his lack of opportunities to play consistent minutes haven’t really come to fruition. With the schedule winding down, Mike Brown still has yet to really come up with a standard rotation due to all of the injuries, so if West does have to miss time, it will only slow down the process that much more.
Thankfully for the Cavs, the majority of our games for the remainder of the season will be played at home – a venue that has been much more kind to the old win-loss record than, say, the road. Unfortunately, they’ll have to win at least three more games than Washington and Philadelphia between now and the end of the season to keep home court for the first round. Washington is 7-3 over the last 10, while Philly is 8-2. Cleveland, on the other hand, is 5-5.
It could get dicey, folks.
(Update: Cavs released the injury report for Saturday. Both Gibson and West are ‘Questionable)
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