Celtics' Kyrie Irving Will Miss NBA Playoffs
BOSTON (CBS) -- It's the news Celtics fans were dreading for the last few weeks.
Kyrie Irving will not only miss the rest of the regular season, but also the playoffs. The guard is scheduled to undergo a procedure to remove two screws in his left patella (from the broken kneecap he suffered in the 2015 NBA Finals) that became infected, the Celtics announced on Thursday.
The good news is the team says that the fracture in Irving's patella has completely healed and that his knee remains structurally sound. He is expected to make a full recovery in 4-5 months, so he will hopefully be ready for the 2018-19 season.
Irving posted to Instagram shortly after the announcement was made.
"This season was only a snapshot of what's to come from me," Irving wrote. "Trust Me."
Irving underwent a "minimally invasive" procedure on March 24 to remove a wire from his sore left knee, and there was a glimmer of hope that he would be able to return to the Boston lineup sometime during the postseason. That is no longer the case, a huge blow to the Celtics' chances in the playoffs.
In his first season with the Celtics, Irving averaged 24.4 points off a career-high 49 percent shooting over 60 games. The Celtics will now rely on guard Terry Rozier, who has filled in admirably during Irving's absence, but is no Kyrie Irving.
The Celtics will likely head into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
