The Cavaliers confirmed the unfortunate news many had been expecting regarding Andrew Bogut’s fractured left leg Wednesday. The Australian center will not be returning to the court this season.
Via the Cavaliers press release:
Andrew Bogut underwent additional imaging and evaluation at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday related to his fractured left tibia. His tibia has been set and he is undergoing a non-surgical treatment and recovery plan commencing immediately with an extended period of immobilization and healing stimulation. He will not be available to play the remainder of the regular season and playoffs, but is expected to successfully complete his recovery process in advance of training camp for the 2017-18 NBA season.
Bogut was injured less than a minute into his Cavs debut, so in a sense it’s hard to lose what you never actually had, but the injury is still a blow to a Cleveland team that was excited about adding a rim defender to a thin front line. Now, with Kevin Love still out for a while, the Cavs will have to continue playing plenty of small ball.
Wednesday, however, did bring some good news for Cleveland on the injury front, as J.R. Smith, who hasn’t played since Dec. 20, is very close to a return to action. According to the team’s press release, Smith “has been cleared to resume full practice activity” and is listed as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Detroit Pistons.
Since the addition of Kyle Korver on Jan. 8, the Cavaliers have been nearly unstoppable from behind the arc, firing up over 34 3-pointers a night, and connecting on just under 40 percent of them (the second-best mark in the league in that time span), per NBA.com. The return of Smith, who was shooting over 36 percent from deep this season before he got injured, will give the Cavs yet another option from outside, and make their already impressive offense that much more difficult to guard.
Once Smith returns to the court, the Cavs will have seven healthy players shooting over 35 percent from 3 and playing at least 15 minutes per game. And that doesn’t even include Love. Good luck guarding the 3-point line against these guys the rest of the way.
