The Cleveland Cavaliers have seen their share of struggles to start the NBA season, and a recent Tristan Thompson injury update could add to their issues. The Cavs’ big man suffered a recent strained calf injury, joining teammates Iman Shumpert and Isaiah Thomas who are also sidelined for different amounts of time. On Thursday, Cavaliers fans learned just how long their backup center Tristan Thompson might be out of action for as the team continues to accumulate some lopsided losses.
It was reported via ESPN earlier on Thursday that Tristan Thompson could be sidelined for as long as a month with his calf injury. The latest setback happened during the Cavs’ loss to the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night. Thompson ended up leaving the game in the second quarter and was seen using crutches to get around as he exited the arena. After having an MRI earlier today, the prognosis is he’ll be away from the basketball court at the very least for three weeks and at most up to a month. While he hadn’t been part of the team’s starting lineup, it still deals another blow to a Cavs team that hasn’t had the best of starts to their 2017-18 NBA campaign.
Thompson’s injury is among the latest to hamper this season’s Cleveland Cavs roster. While Derrick Rose participated in Wednesday night’s game, he’s been in just four of the team’s eight games this season due to an ankle injury. Guard Iman Shumpert has been on the injury report due to his right knee issues, with the most recent report on October 31 that he’d be “shut down for the next 5-to-7 days.” In addition, the team is dealing with concerns over Isaiah Thomas getting back to the court at some point. Thomas was part of the big trade that sent Kyrie Irving to the Celtics, but the All-Star guard isn’t expected to be available until midseason.
As far as Tristan Thompson goes, he was the team’s starting center for the past several seasons until they received Jae Crowder as part of the Irving trade with the Boston Celtics. That moved Crowder into Kevin Love’s power forward spot while shifting Love to the center position, meaning that Thompson had to come off the bench. His backup was also brought over in the Irving trade, as Ante Zizic is the next big listed on the depth chart. For the current season, Thompson had been averaging 4.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks per game in about 21.6 minutes per game.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost four straight games now, with their last three defeats coming by margins of 17 to 22 points. That includes losses to the Nets, Knicks, and Pacers, which are three teams not expected to make the NBA Playoffs. However, with the new landscape of the Eastern Conference, maybe just about anything is possible.
[Featured Image by Jason Miller/Getty Images]
