A sore left ankle could prevent LeBron James from playing against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. James twisted his left ankle when he accidentally stepped on another teammates foot during practice. The injury costs him most of the Cavs preseason games excluding the team's game against the Chicago Bulls. Now, it looks like his recovery will extend all the way through the Cavs' first game in the regular season.
On Wednesday, the Cavaliers forward failed to join the team's practice. He eventually opted out in their final preseason game against the Orlando Magic on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, coach Tyronn Lue confirmed James current situation saying "Got treatment all day today, so I'm not sure if we should be concerned or not. But it's pretty sore today, so we'll just see what happens."
Testing the ankle injury
Apparently, James agreed to play against the Bulls in order to test his ankle. He believes that if things still don't work, he has at least one more week to recover and possibly play against the Celtics. But Wednesday's result really had the Cavs forward mad because he hasn't been 100 percent on the floor.
Coach Lue, on the other hand, has a plan and decided to bring in J.R. Smith to the first squad in the absence of LeBron James. "We're going to work on it.
We scrimmaged a lot today, and we put it in early. So guys feel more comfortable. We have to keep working at it. It's something new to us," Lue adds.
Celtics vs. Cavaliers preseason comparison
That said, it's likely that fans will not be able to see what they've all been expecting to see in one of the most anticipated NBA matches this season.
Kyrie Irving has been working hard in Boston and the team has aced the preseason so far with a 4-0 record against the Cleveland Cavaliers spiraling 0-4 preseason record.
Since Kyrie Irving's request for a trade, the superstar has dodged the limelight, choosing to quietly work with the Celtics team and deliver what he promised the franchise.
Now, the stars have aligned to give Kyrie and LeBron a chance to take to the floor with all of their emotions and duel it out in their first regular season game.
During the summer, the Cleveland Cavaliers acquired Jae Crowder, Isaiah Thomas, Ante Zizic, Derrick Rose, and Dwyane Wade. The star-studded team shouldn't have any problem with their lineup except J.R. Smith admits he was frustrated when he learned that Dwyane Wade was given the starting spot he used to hold.
