The Cleveland Cavaliers appear to have avoided another major injury to a key starter.
Already playing without the services of both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, it briefly looked like the Cavaliers might have to work without Iman Shumpert, too. Shumpert headed to the locker room with an apparent left shoulder injury during the first quarter of Game 3 on Tuesday after colliding with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green as he chased Steph Curry through a screen.
The 24-year-old shooting guard immediately asked to be taken out of the game following the impact, heading straight to the locker room.
He returned to the bench early in the second quarter wearing a compression sleeve and checked back into the game midway through the frame. He'd finish with three points, three rebounds, and three steals in 32 minutes, though he appeared to be favoring his arm throughout the remainder of the game.
As a precaution, Shumpert was set to have his shoulder evaluated following the game. The team is said to be optimistic that he'll be fine, but it's worth remembering that he missed six weeks earlier in the season after dislocating the same shoulder.
Shumpert is integral to what the Cavaliers do defensively, with Cleveland allowing just 97.7 points per 100 possessions when he's on the floor in comparison to 101.1 when he's on the bench. He also held the man he's guarding to just 41.5 percent shooting through Cleveland's 16 postseason games, according to NBA.com.
Teammate LeBron James said late last month that Shumpert will be on the All-Defensive team "very soon." Up 2-1 in the series, he may soon be on an NBA championship team, too.
