Cleveland Cavaliers were annihilated last night as the Atlanta Hawks shot the lights out in the second half, giving Cleveland another tough loss. As bad as this loss was for the Cavaliers, that is not the worst thing that happened to them last night, as their superstar point guard Kyrie Irving got injured. Irving injured his knee in the third quarter and was forced to leave to the locker room after it. However, he returned in the fourth quarter, but he just wasn't the same.

This is not the first time that the 25-year old guard is dealing with knee issues as he has a long history of knee injuries.

Nevertheless, this Injury came at the worst possible time and the Cavaliers are afraid Kyrie Irving might not be 100 percent ready for the playoffs. NBA playoffs start in less than ten days, and the Cavaliers need every player to be healthy and ready for action.

Kyrie Irving had a knee surgery two years ago

Irving had a surgery on his left knee two years ago, and that injury also came at a bad time as the Cleveland Cavaliers were in the NBA finals. The point guard played in a game 1 loss against the Golden State Warriors, but had to miss the remainder of the series due to his knee issues. Beside Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love also suffered a season-ending injury and as a result, the Cavaliers lost the finals.

This is the same knee that bothered the superstar guard last night, and it is unsure how it will affect him in the long run. "I mean it's never easy, even the year after, just to realize that you have plates and screws in your knee and stuff like that," Irving said about his injury, after scoring 18 points against the Hawks.

He also commented how he tried to recover ad be ready for the game, but it just did not work out. "I just did my best all of yesterday just trying to recover and do everything possible. I had a great chance of playing at a high level, and then after halftime it just (expletive) flared up."

Losing Irving would be fatal for the Cavaliers

Cleveland Cavaliers simply cannot afford to lose Kyrie Irving since he is the second-best player on the team.

2015 NBA finals showed his importance and things would have been much different if he was healthy and playing. The worst thing is that even though the head coach Tyronn Lue wants to rest his superstars, he cannot do it because the Cavaliers are looking to secure the first seed. At the moment, they have a one-game advantage over the second-seeded Boston Celtics, but anything could happen in the last three games.

The Cavaliers collapsed in the fourth quarter last night and Irving couldn't do much with his injury. What makes the loss worse is the fact that the Atlanta Hawks played without four of their starters, yet they finished the game with a blowout victory over the defending champions. Kyrie Irving has to recover quickly as Cleveland cannot afford losing him, or there could be some dire consequences.