Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks: NBA teams depleted by injuries --- Part 2
Cleveland Cavaliers
Cleveland Cavaliers have hit hard by the injury problems this season. Kyrie Irving got his first taste of injury when he had his left index finger broken. He came back and looked sharp on the court and made an amazing play when
he dribbled his way into the paint and made a layup to at the buzzer to down the Boston Celtics earlier this season.
But he has to wear a protective mask on his face these days because of a broken jaw. And he is not the only one in the Cavaliers camp wearing a mask; they have a whole platoon of players wearing protective gears. Tyler Zeller has
been wearing the mask because of a broken cheek bone. And Tristan Thompson has to wear the mask because of his broken nose.
The list of injured players is not quite done yet; Anderson Varejao is the latest casualty suffering from a right knee injury. All of these factors have caused them to drop to 5-22 this season, highly unexpected of a team having
huge talent on its roaster and with Irving and Varejao having the best seasons of their career. Once they all come back and combine their efforts together, the Cavaliers will surely pick pace as the season progresses.
Dallas Mavericks
The 2011 NBA champions are having a season far from convincing and who could blame them with the Mavs hit by a streak of injury problems.
Dirk Nowitzki, one of the best power forwards ever to have stepped on the court has not been able to play any part in their campaign so far this season but is expected to come back soon as he has almost recovered from his arthroscopic
knee surgery and has started to practice.
Shawn Marion and Chris Kaman both left the court on December 7 with injuries. Marion suffered a right strained right groin and Kaman sprained his left ankle. Guard Derek Fisher has also been injured in the line of duty with a strained
right patellar tendon. Add Elton Brand and Brandan Wright to the injured list, and now you see the reason why the Mavericks did not have the start to the season they were expecting.
But with Nowitzki expected to come back soon, the Mavs will be looking to fare much better as the season matures.
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