Varejao injury a major blow to team

Earlier in the season, Cavaliers coach Byron Scott said center Anderson Varejao was the player they could least afford to lose.

The inevitable happened on Friday when he got chopped by Bucks center Drew Gooden across the right wrist with 9:01 left in the third quarter. He has a non-displaced fracture of his right wrist. The Cavs failed to provide any kind of timetable for his return, but he'll be out at least a month, probably longer.

The 6-foot-11, 260-pounder Varejao received an MRI on Saturday at the Cleveland Clinic, which detected the fracture.

He was replaced in the starting lineup by 7-foot Semih Erden in the Cavs' 99-84 loss to Philadelphia on Saturday. Samardo Samuels, Ryan Hollins and possibly Tristan Thompson could also get a chance to play center.

Varejao was fourth in the NBA in rebounds (11.5 per game) and first in offensive rebounds (4.1).

"There are not many guys in the league that plays with his energy," Scott said. "It will be hard to make up for everything that Andy does."

Cleveland has some time to regroup, as it doesn't take the court again until Wednesday at home against Indiana.

Copyright (C) 2012 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.