OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – The frustration on Kyrie Irving’s face was evident as he spoke to the media and then buried his head in his hands.
After using the eight-day break to heal his ailing body, Irving looked like his usual self again before limping off the court with yet another injury to his left knee in overtime of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 108-100 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
“It’s disappointing and frustrating because I felt amazing,” Irving said. “This is just a setback that I kind of have to take with a grain of salt.”
The injury happened just minutes after Irving made a defensive play that nearly led the Cavs to the win, blocking Stephen Curry’s layup attempt to give Cleveland the ball with 24.1 seconds left in a tie game.
LeBron James missed a tough fall-away jumper over Andre Iguodala in the closing seconds of regulation. Iman Shumpert grabbed the rebound and threw up a desperation shot at the buzzer that hit the rim and bounced away to force overtime.