Scott Shaw, The Plain Dealer With Shaquille O'Neal likely out for the rest of the regular season and Zydrunas Ilgauskas gone from the roster for at least three more weeks, the Cavaliers will be relying on their frontcourt depth to maintain a chase for the NBA's best record.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cavaliers center Shaquille O'Neal will have surgery on his sprained right thumb on Monday morning in Baltimore, which likely will mean he will be out for the remainder of the regular season.
Though the Cavs did not place any timetable on O'Neal's return, injuries of this nature that require surgery typically take six to nine weeks to heal. In 1995, O'Neal suffered a torn ligament in the thumb that caused him to miss 22 games for the Orlando Magic. There are seven weeks remaining in the regular season.
The Cavs obtained O'Neal in a trade with the Phoenix Suns last June in order to counter the height problems posed by the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs. Provided the Cavs can continue to hold onto the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, they likely wouldn't face Boston or Orlando until at least the second round, by which time O'Neal could be back.
But it remains to be seen what O'Neal's absence will mean to the Cavs' attempt to finish with the best record in the league, which would give them home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. They currently have the best record in the league at 46-14 heading into Monday night's home game against New York. Los Angeles is 45-15.
Cavaliers coach Mike Brown acknowledged how much the team would miss O'Neal, whose contributions have gone far beyond his averages of 12 points and 6.7 rebounds in 53 games this season.
"There have been plenty of games that he's played for us where without him, we probably wouldn't have won," Brown said after Sunday's practice before O'Neal's surgery was announced. "He has had an impact against the Lakers. He has had an impact against Orlando. He has had an impact against a lot of teams, especially when Mo [Williams] was out and Delonte [West] was out.
"We won 13 in a row and he was a big part of it. He allowed us to still be able to score buckets easily in the halfcourt."
John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer Anderson Varejao was the starting center in Friday's win at Toronto, but struggled with fouls. He'll need to be able to stay on the court while the Cavaliers are shorthanded.
Brown will start Anderson Varejao in O'Neal's place and also use J.J. Hickson, Antawn Jamison and Leon Powe at center.
"It impacts everybody's game when you don't have a presence like Shaq around," Brown said. "I think your team is different. He's hard to replace on both ends of the floor.
"We don't have a power inside presence that we're able to come down and play the ball into. We're going to try to spread teams out a little bit more and play a little more pick and roll after a little bit of movement, play some catch-and-shoot and post up our smalls a little bit more."
O'Neal suffered the injury on Thurday at Boston, where Glen "Big Baby" Davis hit his hand while he was shooting. Television replays later showed Davis pulling on the thumb while defending O'Neal.
O'Neal had an MRI on the thumb on Saturday at The Cleveland Clinic. On Sunday, O'Neal and Cavaliers team physician Dr. Richard Parker visited Dr. Thomas Graham at the National Hand Center in Baltimore. Graham is a renowned hand surgeon who operated on former Cav Larry Hughes in 2006. The surgery will be at Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore. It will be performed by Dr. Graham, with Dr. Parker assisting.
The Cavs will update O'Neal's status after the surgery.
The Cavs had two All-Star centers at the start of the season and now they have none. Zydrunas Ilgauskas was sent to Washington in the deal that brought Jamison from the Wizards. Ilgauskas was released by the Wizards and will clear waivers and become a free agent on Monday. If he decides to re-sign with the Cavs, the earliest he can do so is March 22, according to league rules.
Ilgauskas' agent, Herb Rudoy, denied a report on ESPN.com on Sunday that he had told the Dallas Mavericks that Ilgauskas was going to re-sign with the Cavaliers as soon as possible.
Rudoy said he had not talked to Mavericks General Manager Donnie Nelson in days.
"No decision has been made," Rudoy insisted in an email on Sunday night.
James, Varejao rest: James and Varejao received treatment on Sunday and did not practice. James suffered a bruised left thigh when he was kneed by the Raptors' Antoine Wright in the first half at Toronto on Friday.