Dion Waiters still paying for dunk, out a while with knee injury

Who could have known that Dion Waiters' second quarter dunk on Tuesday would cause so much damage?

Following the jam (see video below), Waiters hyper-extended his left knee and has been on the shelf since. On Sunday, he's missing his third straight game and he's not talking like a player who is expecting to be back on the court anytime soon.

"I haven't ran yet. I haven't ran since it happened. When I start running, it'll be good."
...
"I was just scared, more than anything. You never know. But I didn't hear any popping, I just knew I stressed it pretty good. My right leg, I think, saved it. If I'd just came down on my left leg, it'd have been over. But I came down on my right leg, and caught myself with my left."

Waiters indicated that he expects to miss "a couple more" games but his evaluation of the knee doesn't make that sound realistic. The Cavaliers have four games this coming week, so perhaps Waiters sees an appearance late in the week as a possibility.

In 49 games before the injury, Waiters was averaging 14.3 points and 2.7 assists in 28.1 minutes, hitting 36.3 percent of his 3-point attempts. It's remarkable how close his numbers this year are to his rookie season, when he averaged 14.7 points and three assists in 28.8 minutes.