Irving 'had a feeling' finger was broken, Cavs shut him down rather than risk surgery

Cavs guard Kyrie Irving "had a feeling" his finger was broke when he injured it Saturday night. Irving is expected to miss a month with the injury. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)

View Larger Version >>

INDEPENDENCE: Kyrie Irving says he "had a feeling" his left index finger was broken when he initially injured it Saturday night. Now the Cavaliers must face life without their best player, which isn't a very good feeling at all.

Irving was on the court shooting around after practice on Tuesday with his left index finger in a splint. Coach Byron Scott said Irving could play with the injured finger, but would risk further injuring it and perhaps requiring surgery.

"I don't think we're being overly cautious by saying, 'Let's shut it down and see how it looks in a couple weeks and go from there,'" Scott said. 

Irving tried playing through the injury in Sunday's loss at Philadelphia, when he made just 4 of 14 shots and felt as if he was playing one-handed. The MRI the next morinng revealed the fracture.

"I kind of knew I couldn't play with it," Irving said. "I had one hand and I couldn't hold onto the ball. Especially at the end of the game in the fourth quarter, I just couldn't put it in my left hand or make any moves and it was frustrating."

The Cavs were 2-8 wth him in the lineup. Now they'll be without their leading scorer for about 20 games. 

"The record is not my main concern," Scott said. "The main concern is to continue to get better. If we continue to get better, the rest will take care of itself.

"We haven't gotten off to the start we wanted to get off to, I think everyone in this room understands that. BUt you've got 72 games left in this season. We still havea  lot of games to go."