Cavs C O’Neal to have thumb surgery
February 28, 2010
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (AP)—Shaquille O’Neal’s(notes) regular season could be over. Nowthe Cavaliers hope the center they acquired for the postseason will be back intime for the playoffs.
O’Neal will undergo surgery Monday to repair his injured right thumb. He wasexamined Sunday by Dr. Thomas Graham at the National Hand Center in Baltimore.Graham will perform the surgery.
The Cavaliers said they will update a timeline for his return following theprocedure, but a typical recovery period is 6 to 8 weeks. There are seven weeksleft in the regular season.
“I think we’ll be all right,” point guard Mo Williams(notes) said before learningO’Neal needed surgery. “We’ll weather the storm while the big fella gets somerest.”
The Cavaliers acquired O’Neal last summer with an eye toward the postseason,and more specifically Dwight Howard(notes) and Orlando after the Magic eliminatedCleveland in the Eastern Conference finals. O’Neal has played well for theCavaliers this season, averaging 12 points and 6.7 rebounds in 53 games.
More importantly, he has played a big role in the Cavaliers going 4-1against the Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers, two teams Cleveland struggledagainst last season and two teams likely to block Cleveland’s path to achampionship.
O’Neal injured the thumb Thursday at Boston when his shot was blocked byGlen “Big Baby” Davis with just over 7 minutes left in the first half.
Anderson Varejao(notes) will continue to start at center for the Cavs. Formerbackup Zydrunas Ilgauskas(notes), traded to Washington for Antawn Jamison(notes), is now afree agent following a buyout from the Wizards. Ilgauskas is free to sign withany team, but will have to wait until March 21 under NBA rules should he electto re-sign with the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers are a more up-tempo team with O’Neal out of the lineup.
“With Shaq, you have to take advantage of his size and you have to go inthe paint. He gets teams in foul trouble real easy,” Williams said. “WithoutShaq, it’ll be more pick and rolls, more drive and kicks and more 3-pointattempts. We’ll spread the floor out and attack the rim in different ways.”
O’Neal suffered a similar injury while playing with the Magic in 1995, whenhe missed the first 22 games of the season when he fractured the same thumb.Counting Monday’s game against New York, the Cavaliers have 22 games left in theregular season.
Cleveland also recalled rookie Danny Green(notes) from Erie of the NBA DevelopmentLeague on Sunday. He was assigned to Erie on Feb. 24 and played in two games forthe BayHawks.