The “heart and soul” of the Cavaliers has been ripped from the roster, again. For a third straight season, Cleveland will have to learn how to manage without Anderson Varejao’s rebounds, without his relentless energy, without his boundless effort and passion for every play on the court.
On Wednesday, they managed a 99-83 thumping of the Atlanta Hawks, thanks to 33 points from Kyrie Irving, and double doubles from Tristan Thompson and Tyler Zeller, the big men who will try to replace Varejao.
From this point forward in the next six-to-eight weeks, the Cavaliers will try to piece something together. Anything that will work.
“We all have to step up for Andy,” Irving said. “We’re all aware of that. Obviously he’s going to be truly missed. This is an opportunity for different guys on the team.”
Against the Hawks, Irving’s 18 points in the third quarter were the difference, but Thompson continued his strong play of late with 11 points and 14 rebounds while Zeller added 11 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
“I don’t know if we necessarily need that type of performance from both those guys every single night, but somewhere near there would be nice,” Scott said.
That’s about what it’s going to take to replace Varejao, who had been averaging a career-best 14.1 points and 14.4 rebounds before suffering the quad injury Dec. 18. What originally had been diagnosed as a bruised right knee took a dramatically ominous tone Tuesday when Cavaliers coach Byron Scott suddenly said he hoped Varejao would return “this year.”
On Wednesday morning, the Cavaliers announced that Varejao’s injury will require surgery to repair what they revealed is a “split” quad muscle.
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