J.R. Smith to miss 12-14 weeks after thumb surgery

The Cleveland Cavaliers could be without shooting guard J.R. Smith for nearly all of what's left of the regular season.

Smith underwent surgery to repair his fractured right thumb Friday, and is expected to miss the next 12-14 weeks, the team announced.

Before suffering the injury during the Cavs' win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, Smith had been slumping badly in the first season of his new four-year, $57-million deal with Cleveland. He's averaged 8.6 points and 1.2 assists, while shooting a career-low 33.7 percent from the field with a career-worst 8.0 PER.

For all his struggles, though, his 3-point shooting has remained a valuable weapon for the Cavs, and they've still been better with him on the floor than on the bench. Without him, their wing rotation looks dangerously thin, with Iman Shumpert, Mike Dunleavy, and DeAndre Liggins left to patch up the hole.

Should Smith's recovery take the full 14 weeks, he'll be back sometime at the end of March or beginning of April, about two weeks before the start of the playoffs.