NBA Rumors: Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving is expected to miss 3-6 weeks after undergoing a procedure on his ailing knee
The good news is that Kyrie Irving likely isn’t lost for the remainder of the season. The bad news, though, is that he’s likely going to miss at least part of the playoffs.
According to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe, there is growing optimism that Kyrie Irving will return near the start of the NBA playoffs or in the second round, if the Celtics can advance without him.
Irving underwent a “minimally invasive procedure” in an attempt to alleviate discomfort in his knee.
Hearing that there’s optimism that Kyrie Irving could return either near the start of the playoffs or, on the later end, in a conference semifinals series.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) March 24, 2018
Celtics timetable for All-Star Kyrie Irving’s return to basketball activities after knee procedure today: 3-to-6 weeks.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 24, 2018
Irving has been sitting out the last few games with discomfort in his knee. After receiving a second opinion, it was concluded that he needed to remove pins from a procedure in the past that fixed his knee-cap issue.
However, having that type of procedure likely would’ve sidelined him for the remainder of the season. In an attempt to help salvage his season, he went another route. Which is now being called the “minimally invasive procedure.”
The hope is that Kyrie can return either at the start or at some point during the playoffs. The question is, however, can the Celtics continue to survive without him? Barring something dramatic over the last few weeks of the regular season, the Celtics will likely finish as the second seed in the East.
They will likely face off against the Miami Heat or Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the playoffs.
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Both of those teams appear beatable on paper, but you never know how the young Celtics would react in a playoff series without their star point guard. Boston has won three of their last five game without Kyrie Irving in the lineup, and has shown the ability to win big games without key players in the past under Brad Stevens.
This is huge news either way. The NBA’s Eastern Conference is wide open, and if Boston isn’t going to be 100 percent in the playoffs, it just got that much more interesting.