BleacherReport.com
By Matt Fitzgerald
Posted December 16th 2015
Celtics.com’s Marc D’Amico had the details on Shumpert’s status after the injury forced him out of action during the fourth quarter:
Iman Shumpert is out for the rest of the night with a right groin injury. — Marc D’Amico (@Marc_DAmico) December 16, 2015
After the game, head coach David Blatt said he was “honestly concerned” about the injury, per Sean Deveney of the Sporting News.
Chris B. Haynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer added the injury isn’t believed to be serious, but the team doesn’t expect him to play on Thursday against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Shumpert is one of the NBA‘s premier on-ball defenders, and Cleveland rewarded him this offseason with a fresh four-year, $40 million contract. Unfortunately, the 25-year-old’s tough luck with injuries continued before the 2015-16 campaign even began.
After undergoing right wrist surgery in late September, Shumpert was declared out for three months. During his time with the New York Knicks, he’d already dealt with a torn ACL, and he was banged up during the Cavs’ run to the NBA Finals.
Tuesday was just Shumpert’s second game back since recovering from the surgery.
Head coach David Blatt can shuffle his rotation around on the wing with J.R. Smith filling in as the starting 2-guard until Shumpert fully recovers from this latest ailment. Cleveland figures to lean more on Matthew Dellavedova and Mo Williams, though the team will sacrifice perimeter defense for now.